Naruto Shippuuden Extreme
by Guardians of The Four Heavens
Summary: AU Naruto returns from his training trip after 4 years away from Kohona. Jiraiya finally took Naruto's training more seriously. Alternate Shippuuden. Naruto/Harem Warnings for G/V A/S Adopted By Wolf of the lunar moon
1. Return to Kohona

Chapter 1 : Return to Konoha

Four years after Sauske's betrayal...

Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves hadn't changed that much from an outside perspective in the past four years. Though that's not to say the occupants of said village hadn't changed over the years since he betrayal of the last Uchiha. The group known as the rookie 9 had changed much over the years, growing up much faster than most their age should have...though they were without two members. Sauske Uchiha was now in the village hidden in the sound, Oto, and the number one most surprising Knuckleheaded Ninja had left for a three year training trip with the legendary Sannin Jiraiya...their trip however ended up being longer than originally planned due to an odd complication with Naruto's seal. Jiraiya had made a seal key in hopes of allowing the boy to access more of the demon fox's chakra early on in the trip. The key worked...but not in the way it should have...instead the seal altered itself causing Naruto's body to change and adjust in certain ways as the seal drained the fox demon of its chakra and made it Naruto's. Naruto was still human...but the alterations made due to the mishap with the key had given him a sort of blood line limit or Kekkei Genkai...he had the perks of the demons chakra but none of the ill effects unless he tried to draw more than he was able to at the moment.

Another person who had changed much over this time was Naruto's first love, Sakura Haruno. Having been fed a very harsh dose of reality with Sauske's betrayal and Naruto's leaving to train she was forced to rethink her priorities in life. This had an effect of getting rid of the fan girl personality she once had as well as the crush she once had for the Uchiha. She admitted that she still felt something for the boy but it was clearly not love like she had thought it had been and she still wanted to bring him back to Konoha...if that was possible...if not then he was truly lost to them all. She missed her blonde haired friend allot, she hadn't realized just how much the obnoxious boy had meant to her until he wasn't there no more. As the old saying goes...you never know what you have until it is gone.

She had done well for herself though; she was the apprentice of the Slug Sannin and Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, who also was Naruto's adoptive mother figure. Tsunade was proud of her student who by rights would one day surpass her. Sakura was an excellent healer, had her legendary strength, could be gentle but still be fierce when need be...all in all she had grown into a fine young woman.

Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga had also taken an interest in healing; Hinata more so that Ino who also helped work in interrogation with Anko and Ibiki...thankfully she hadn't picked up their personality quirks. Tenten was another Kunoichi that had grown very well. She was now considered the Kenjutsu Mistress of Konoha. They even had Temari Sabaku from Suna living in Konoha now as a representative for Suna. She had tried dating Shikamaru for a while but it didn't seem to work out as the lazy Chunin was now dating a civillian girl named Mia and was engaged to be married to her.

Neji Hyuga had obtained the rank of Jounin and was currently betrothed to a young noble woman from one of Konoha's sister villages. Kiba Inuzuka along with Shino Aburame and Chouji Akimichi were still single and apparently quite happy about it. Rock Lee was also single...but he seemed more interested in his training and fitness...and flames of youth...than in dating like most his age...go figure. The boy had even outgrown his crush on Sakura.

It is said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that could quite very well be true. Despite their jobs as Shinobi of Konoha, Naruto's friends, though more mature, were still the same people they always were. They were just smarter now, wiser and had more experience...they also didn't let childish things get in the way of their lives anymore. They had learned that in their line of work...life was simply to short.

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she looked at her former teammate, the Toad Sannin. He had just arrived back in Konoha late last night and was preparing to make his report on Naruto's progress. She was worried for the boy, he was like a son to her and he had been through hell and back during his training trip...she was afraid he wouldn't be the same person she cared so much about when he returned.

"Well then, let's hear it you old pervert." Tsunade said.

Jiraiya smirked.

"Naruto...well...he has changed quite a bit over the past four years." Jiraiya started. "In a good way I assure you. He has become allot like Minato was and he still has Kushina's temperament and both their strong wills. Though he has matured quite a bit, he's still the kind hearted, oblivious to females and unpredictable person he always was but he has long since lost his immaturity." Jiraiya started.

"He's no longer loud, brash or a braggart. He's still got his sense of humor but when it comes time to get serious...he is as fearsome if not more so than Minato was. The kid was a damn jutsu sponge I tell you...he learned everything I could teach him in a little over a year and even created several variations of the Rasengan...some of which I can't even do. The brat even learned the Hiraishin in a three months...bastard can do it without the aid of the special kunai too."

Tsunade's eyes went wide. "Holy shit! Just what level do you think he's on, Jiraiya!?"

"Let's put it this way...the kid beat my ass the last three times we sparred and most of those B and A-Rank missions you sent us were completed by him alone. He has absorbed six tails of Kyuubi's power that are his own now and should have the other three by the time he turns eighteen. Because of that his bones are now diamond hard, his senses are more acute than the Inuzuka clans and his natural physical abilities out class yours in strength and mine or Kakashi's or Gai's in raw speed. He's not invincible though, Orochimaru and the Akatsuki could still kill him if he's not careful." Jiraiya warned.

Tsunade sat back heavily in her chair. "Damn...little brat...sounds like he tried to turn himself into a weapon." She muttered.

Jiraiya frowned. "He did...he was able to retain his humanity and emotions but he literately made himself into a living weapon when he discovered that he was absorbing Kyuubi's power at an alarming rate. Statistically his body shouldn't have been able to handle it...he should have died...but his own chakra reacted oddly with the seal, fused with Kyuubi's chakra and super enhanced his healing factor to the point it evolved his body rather than damage it...though he was in considerable pain for two weeks while his body adjusted. As such he is a Hanyou now and when he turns twenty one or the natural prime of humans he will stop physically aging. He can still be killed but It'd be damn hard. Thankfully he can hide or summon his tails at will so all things considered he still looks like a human as much as he still acts and thinks like one." Tsunade had a relieved look on her features knowing that her adopted son still retained his humanity.

"What rank should I give him? The council wants him to remain a Genin...the bastards...but if his skills are as good as you say he could be ranked an Elite Jounin easily." Tsunade stated.

Jiraiya shook his head. "No...he already said he didn't want any special treatment. He said he'd accept Chunin rank since he thought he earned it in the last exams he took but he wants to earn his Jounin status when the time is right. He also wants to take his fathers surname, but once again wants no special treatment due to his father being the fourth...like I said...he grew up quite a bit. Though he still calls me a pervert all the time and he'll probably still call you granny sometimes." He chuckled.

Tsunade smirked...she'd hug him first and if he called her granny...she'd brain him for it later.

"Any other skills he pick up?" She asked.

"Hmm...his Ninjutsu levels are quite advanced now...so are his Fuuinjutsu and yes I've already had him certified as a Seal Master. He's got a near mastery of the Ryuuken style Taijutsu and is a master of two sword Mystical Beast Kenjutsu. Because of the Kyuubi he gained an affinity for all five normal elements and has learned how to manipulate them to the point he can re-create Wood, Ice and Magma elements for jutsu." Jiraiya mused.

"B-but...my grandfather...he...was the last master of the wood element!" Tsunade explained.

Jiraiya grinned. "I know...why do you think I'm so proud to have the brat as an apprentice? He had re-discovered it and thanks to his altered genetics any kids he has will gain the same affinities he has...including the three rare ones. They should also gain his enhanced physical attributes and enhanced senses as well and we both know that the Namikaze clan was known for its high chakra levels and limitless stamina. We even decided to call his blood line limit the Omni-Element Kekkei Genkai since we know for sure his affinities will be passed on along with his abnormal chakra levels and stamina."

"Well...at least that should keep the council off his ass for a while at any rate." Tsunade mused. "How did he train so much and get so far in just four years though? It takes most Jounin at least a decade to get that far."

"Shadow clones." Jiraiya said smugly. "He learned the secret of the Shadow clone. Since he gained whatever they learned once dispelled he made several hundred a day and had groups of them work on different tasks. When added up he's got about eighty years worth of training in all due to Shadow clones. It's just a shame that no one besides him has the capacity to use them like that or we'd have one hell of a force."

Tsunade frowned in thought. It was true that only Naruto had the chakra stores to do that sort of training...the fact that he did it at such a level was a shock though. That combined with those missions she sent them during their trip ensured that Naruto had not only trained hard but had acquired the actual experience needed to go with the skills he learned.

"You've got a point there; it's too bad others couldn't train in the same manner without killing themselves." Tsunade sighed. "Did you give him his parent's scrolls?"

"Yeah...it's a shame the manor was destroyed in the Kyuubi attack. At least Sarutobi-sensei left him that house out by the Hokage monument. He said he'd be moving in as soon as he got back. All that's left is for you to give him his clan scroll." Jiraiya answered.

"When is he going to get back, I had thought he'd show up with you?" Tsunade asked.

"He'll be back early tomorrow morning. He was helping with a small bandit problem in a small village just south of here when I left him. He told me to go on ahead and he'd catch up." The pervert grinned.

* * *

The next morning...

A lone figure walked along the old beaten path that lead to Konoha, it was just a few miles off at this point. Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki had grown much in the past four years. At 6' 4" he was no longer a midget like he used to be and his body had lost all traces of baby fat leaving a firm muscular build of a warrior, the right size and weight to optimize speed and strength. He wasn't overly huge like a body builder but he was far from a slouch either. His body was packed with firm, hard muscle that rippled under his tanned skin with each movement. Various scars littering his body as a testament of the hardships he had seen in his life. His eyes had remained the same though their icy sapphire blue depths now held a piercing nature about them rather than total innocence. His once short golden blonde hair had grown out leaving a unruly spiky mop on top of his head, the back was tied back in a short but thick ponytail reaching down to nearly his mid back. His whisker marks had become a little thicker and darker but not overly noticeable; his canines had grown longer though but only a little. Like his father he had developed a mix of rugged and pretty boy looks making him quite handsome over all.

His clothes had also changed over the years; he had long since done away with the orange jumpsuits. He still liked the color but had agreed that it wasn't practical in his line of work. He had also traded his ninja sandals for a pair of steel toed black combat boots. He had on a pair of baggy black cargo pants with various extra pockets, a shuriken and kunai holster strapped to each leg due to becoming ambidextrous. A utility belt with several pouches on it and clips for his two Samurai style Katana, one had an Ivory handle and the other had an obsidian handle, both carved to look like a dragon coiling around it. He called them Ebony and Ivory, they were forged of some strange ore he and the old pervert had found called adamant, it was unbreakable and chakra could be channeled into it. He had foregone wearing a shirt, rather had bandages wrapped around his lower torso while his upper body was covered in a sleeveless trench coat similar to the one his father once wore only this one was black with blue, purple and green flames coming up from the bottom with both Uzumaki and Namikaze clan crests on the upper back. The blue cloth of his forehead protector had been replaced with a long black cloth that was now tied on his left bicep, a long piece of orange cloth on his right bicep. A long flowing crimson scarf covered the lower half of his face, coiled like a high collar on his shoulders while the tails fluttered in the winds. And finally on his hands and lower forearms were fingerless black gauntlets with dark metal plates with the leaf symbol etched into them. Around his neck was the necklace Tsunade gave him...its supposed curse broken, the green crystal glinted in the sun light.

His travel necessities were safely stored in a traveling scroll; he had found sealing scrolls to be quite handy and made frequent use of them now. In all he made an imposing figure. He let out a slight chuckle...the bandits he took care of the previous day had nearly shit themselves when he fought them. Then again they were so disorganized and low skilled that he probably could of handled them before he had taken his training trip.

He saw the walls of Konoha come into view and a smile crossed his lips. He had really missed his friends...his precious people, but he had really needed the training or he would never have been able to properly protect them. Now he was certain he could and even if he did run into an opponent stronger than himself he wouldn't give in without one hell of a fight. He still held his Nindo but he also followed the Samurai Bushido Code now as well...it gave him good standards to live by.

That brought another light chuckle. Jiraiya had tried his damndest to turn him into a pervert like him. Now Naruto would admit that he still did have a light perverted streak in him...he was a make after all, but he also held a deep respect for women...not that he actually understood them beyond the fact your didn't want them pissed off at you. That was something his sensei never seemed to learn...though it was amusing to watch the old Pervy sage get his ass handed to him by a bunch of irate women.

Thoughts of the fairer sex made his mind wonder to the few female friends he had in Konoha. He wondered how they were doing...he was sure they had all grown more beautiful but had they matured? He was pretty sure Sakura would still be hung up over the Uchiha-teme. He would always have a special place in his heart for her but he doubted she would ever be interested in him as anything more than a friend...he could live with that. He did want to take time to get to know Ino, Hinata and Tenten a little better now, he knew each of them a little but it would be nice to have them as more than just acquaintances.

As he walked up to the gates he showed his passport and mission papers to one of the Chunin on guard, a man named Kotetsu...that was probably due to the fact his full true name was there instead of just Uzumaki. After making the man sputter in shock for a second, Naruto took back his papers and walked through the gates.

He was surprised to see how little had really changed...the people had grown older but little else had changed...unless you counted Tsunade's face, which was now carved on the monument next to his fathers. Naruto just smiled, not one of his old fake ones but a small true one. Then he took off in a dead run and leapt to the rooftops.

* * *

Jiraiya was walking with Tsunade through town intent on meeting his apprentice at the gates. He smirked when he felt the boys chakra close by, though it was heavily muted it was still too strong to completely hide. It seemed like someone else had sensed him as well since Sakura came tearing around the corner along with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, who had all obtained Genin rank.

"Tsunade-sensei! Is it true? Has Naruto returned?" Sakura asked a bit excited for the chance to see her friend after all these years.

The older woman smiled at her apprentice, she could see what few others could. Sakura didn't realize it yet but Naruto's absence had caused her feelings for the boy to grow in ways that easily surpassed that of friendship or brother/sisterhood...if she would let them.

"Yes, we are on our way to meet him now." She answered.

"He's already here." Jiraiya said smugly as he looked up.

There perched on top of a tall post reaching above the houses was Naruto in all his glory. His trench coat and scarf flapping in the winds with his hair, his arms crossed as a calm look seemed to be etched on his features as he gazed over the area.

Sakura's eyes went wide...Tsunade didn't do much better either. This was Naruto!? The loud mouthed, hyperactive, most surprising, knuckleheaded ninja of Konoha!? He looked more like some sort of legendary Shinobi warrior than the old visage he used to have. That...and he was tall...very tall. And were those muscles...well toned ones at that...Sakura nearly drooled when his coat flapped open to reveal his bare chest.

"Oi, brat! You going to stay perched up their all day or you going to come down to greet us!?" Jiraiya called out.

Naruto slowly turned his head down to see Tsunade, Sakura, Jiraiya, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi waving at him. He let a half smile cross his lips and lazily stepped off the post and landed next to them without so much as a sound and with incredible ease.

"Told you it wouldn't take me long to handle those bandits Ero-sennin." Naruto said. His voice a much deeper and rich baratone now that spoke of both great power and kindness.

Naruto looked at Tsunade, his features softened a little more than usual. "Hey, Mom, I missed you. How's things been going here in Konoha?"

His answer was to get the wind squeezed out of him by a happily sobbing Tsunade. He returned the hug...though he was a bit strained...old or not she was damn strong. He patted her back and told her he was back to stay.

Sakura watched with a smile on her face. He had changed allot but it was obvious he was still the same kind and caring person he always was. His eyes, though having gained a piercing nature, still retained their old warmth and gentleness that she had long missed since he left. But they now held a deep sense of maturity and power.

"Hey Boss!" Konohamaru cheered excitedly as Tsunade let her _son_ go so he could greet the others, so far she deeply approved of his changes.

Naruto knelt down so he was eye level with his two little brothers and sister.

"Hey there squirt, have you been training hard?" He asked in a good natured tone.

"I sure have!" The boy exclaimed excitedly. "I even have my own improved versions of your Sexy Jutsu now!"

Naruto just gave him a slight smile. "You know...I've grown up now. You shouldn't be using perverted techniques like that anymore either. Such techniques aren't befit of Genin or Ninja." He said. "

Jiraiya pouted...it just wasn't fair. Tsunade and Sakura looked absolutely gob smacked...that jutsu was actually an S-Rank Kinjutsu and horribly perverted. To hear Naruto berate his own invented technique was a shock.

"Don't you use that jutsu anymore boss?" Konohamaru asked curiously.

Shooting a slight glare at Jiraiya...making him sweat as the two females glared at him he replied.

"No...not unless I am forced too. Granted I'll admit the jutsu worked well on perverts but it has little to no practical use as a real Shinobi technique. I have no use for things like that anymore...guess you could say I out grew it. You really shouldn't use that jutsu anymore...it's actually pretty insulting to women...instead...if you want to become great ninja, find your specialty." Naruto said in big brother mode. "That's not to say you still can't pull pranks, everyone needs a good laugh now and then." He added to ease the disappointed look on the boy's features.

Sakura watched him as he interacted with Konohamaru, a light blush crossing her cheeks. _"He's grown up so much now...he's really handsome now too. If only I could have seen this more when we were younger...but he's back now...and maybe..."_

_**"Maybe he'll wrap us up in those big muscular arms of his and kiss us until our toes curl!" **_Inner Sakura finished causing her to deepen her blush.

"What is your specialty Boss?" Konohamaru asked eagerly.

"I have several now. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Fuuinjutsu...my Genjutsu is still pretty low. My best advice to you and your friends is to find what your best at and go with it, nurture the skill and build on it but don't become too dependant on just one skill. That's what happened to me with Shadow Clones, it's a really useful skill and has many uses but I left myself too limited and stunted my own growth. Tell you three what though...if you can get permission from your sensei I'll teach each of you a jutsu that best suits your skills...sound good?" He asked.

Konohamaru cheered and the three twelve year olds glomped Naruto who let out a chuckle and returned the hug. Jiraiya and Tsunade smiled at the scene...for all the horrible things Naruto had gone through he had turned into one hell of a man. They had no doubt that he would easily surpass his father one day and most likely save this entire village if not the world one day.

Naruto stood up and looked at the last person that had come to greet him. _"Damn...Sakura-chan sure has changed over the past four years...if possible she's grown more beautiful than before. It sucks that she's probably still hung up on the Sauske-teme...the bastard has no clue as to what he's missing...oh well, a promise is a promise I guess...but if he tries to kill me again..."_

"Hey, Sakura-chan, nice to see you again." He said with a half smile that made her stomach flop a couple of times.

"Hi...Naruto...so...what do you think? Do I look older now?" She asked shyly as she leaned forward and put on a cute look.

What happened next caused Jiraiya to gawk, his jaw hitting the ground, and Tsunade to beam in pride.

"Yes you do, you've grown into a beautiful young woman...a flower that has truly bloomed over time." Naruto replied...come on...he may be a oblivious most of the time but he wasn't that stupid when it came to the fairer sex. And to better his social skills with women Naruto had, had a few shadow clones read up on a few books on proper etiquette, manners and a few romance novels to get a feel for what women might like in a man. He was still a bit on the innocent side and sometimes oblivious but nowhere near what he used to be.

Sakura practically melted on the spot as she silent praised Kami for the changes her friend went through. He had left an immature, loud and somewhat stupid but kind hearted kid and returned a strong looking, kind and handsome young man...hell he even beat Sauske in the good looks department now by a long shot.

"I haven't forgotten my promise to you either, Sakura-chan, I'll get Sauske to come back...even if I have to beat the notion into his head." He added and to his masked surprise, Sakura had frowned at the mention of Sauske, he arched an eyebrow at that.

Before she could say anything though another familiar presence made itself known.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted and looked over at Naruto and let out a low whistle in his mind. _"Damn! He's grown allot since he left, looks allot stronger too."_

Naruto nodded at him. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I got something for ya." He said pulling out a new looking familiar orange book and tossed it to the stunned Kakashi. It was Icha Icha Paradise Tactics...it wasn't due for release for another few months!

"Ero-sennin gave that to me." Naruto's face took on a deadpanned look. "He suggested I try reading it...I only got to through the first half of the first chapter...not quite sure what you see in those books but have fun anyways."

"Hey! That is one of my best works yet!" Jiraiya said indignantly.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "Well it wouldn't be so bad if you focused more on the romantic and action values of the story rather than the smut." Naruto replied crossing his arms.

Tsunade snickered. "Looks like you really did fail to turn him into a pervert."

Jiraiya sighed in defeat. "Don't remind me...still...I'll get him one of these days! Everyone is a pervert at heart!"

Naruto arched his eyebrow. "Not likely, Ero-sennin, the difference between me and you is that you have no inhibitions and use your _research_ and books as a way to make up for your own lack of a romantic life. I on the other hand do not let those kind of emotions rule my judgment." Naruto shrugged as he knocked the Toad Sannin down a few pegs. "It's true that everyone has perverted thoughts...without them children would never come to be but just because you have them doesn't mean you should go wild with them."

"Damn that was cold, brat." Jiraiya muttered and pouted. Kakashi nodded as he hugged his new little precious like a baby.

The females in the area, Sakura and Tsunade included, had raised the boy up a few notches in their opinion. Sakura idly noticed that several of the other young civillian females were staring at Naruto with unmasked lust in their eyes. She glared at a few of them not even realizing she was doing it. How dare those tramps look at her Naruto like that? She was still so far shocked and happy at Naruto's changes and having him back that she hadn't even noticed that she was thinking of him in a possessive manner. Tsunade noticed though and smirked to herself...perhaps a little match making was needed later.

"It's great to have you back kiddo." Tsunade said gaining Naruto's and the others attention. "I would like to offer you the rank of Chunin but we need to get you a proper skill assessment first okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure, I was expecting as much anyways."

Kakashi let out one of his usual eye smiles. "I don't have anything to do since it's my day off, I could do the assessment." He offered eager to see how much his student has grown.

"That is a splendid idea, perhaps Gai and Kurenai should join in as well." Tsunade mused.

"Has he grown that much?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Jiraiya snorted. "The brat kicked my ass the last three sparring matches we had."

Sakura started slightly and looked at Naruto...just how much stronger did he become?

Naruto smirked. "I also have some jutsu I know you don't have, Kakashi-sensei, but if you want you can try to copy some of them during our match."

"I doubt that, Naruto, I know over 1,000 jutsu." Kakashi said thinking the boy was pulling his leg.

"Well there are the ones I invented and my elemental jutsu." Naruto replied as Jiraiya smugly handed Naruto a element reader card.

Naruto pumped some of his chakra into the card and it did something no one had ever expected. The card floated up out of his hand and split into eight segments. the segments burned, got wet, crinkled, split, turned to dust, grew roots, melted into a smoldering droplet and the last one froze and shattered.

"B-but that's impossible!" Kakashi exclaimed. Sakura was stunned speechless and Tsunade, though she had been told was still shocked to actually see it.

"For some it is!" Jiraiya gloated; he loved bragging about Naruto these days. "It's a Kekkei Genkai that woke up within him, we call it the Omni-Element Kekkei Genkai, he has a natural affinity for all the main elements and three rare ones...Ice, Magma and Wood. It's been tested and it's a part of his blood line now, though I will admit it took him a while to master all of his element manipulations."

"Hey now...don't let all my secrets out sensei." Naruto said in a warning tone. "A true ninja always keeps a few secrets." Jiraiya just waved him off, scowling slightly at having his fun taken away...after all how often is a sensei gifted with the chance to brag about having a prodigy?

Kakashi was slightly stunned to see Jiraiya bragging it up instead of Naruto but chalked it up to the boy gaining a good amount of maturity on his training trip. He was certain that this new Kekkei Genkai was a side effect of having the fox sealed in him but damn that was one hell of a piece of compensation. With Naruto's new blood line limit no jutsu would be beyond his grasp. He idly wondered what the council would do if they found out.

Naruto glanced up at the sun and noticed it was nearly noon. "Hey, do you guys mind if we cut this short for now? I want to get my stuff unpacked at my new house and get a bite to eat. I'll meet all of you at training ground 7 to do the assessment at two."

"Good idea, you go get settled in and we will prepare things for the test." Tsunade said.

Naruto nodded and vanished in a swirl of fire shocking the shit out of everyone but Jiraiya, who was laughing loudly.

"The brat got bored one day and decided to make variations of Shunshin, he can use each of his different elements in it. He even taught me the water, earth and fire types...quite fun really! Well...I'm off to do a bit of research before the test! Later!" Jiraiya said and also vanished in a swirl of flames to prove his point.

"Looks like things are finally going to get interesting around here again." Tsunade mused. "Sakura, gather your friends from the rookie nine along with Gai's team and tell them to be at training ground 7 at 2:00."

The stunned girl just nodded dumbly and ran off to do what her sensei asked. Tsunade then pulled out a scroll and handed it to Kakashi.

"This is a briefing of Naruto's skills, power levels and some of the things he has learned or done during his training trip. Since you are still technically his sensei you are entitled to the information but I also don't want you to underestimate him like you used too, he's allot more like his father now and underestimating him would be a fatal mistake." She said and left in a flurry of leaves.

Kakashi looked at the scrolls and sighed. It had his name on it...Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki. He had been one of the few that knew the truth, hence why he had protected him when he was a child. Still...it didn't excuse his blatant favoritism when Sauske had been around. He had thought he owed it to Obito to train the last Uchiha...he had been wrong and while he might not have much more he could teach Naruto, he would still try to be there for him and Sakura as well...they were after all like family to him...even if he didn't openly show it often.

* * *

The house Old man Sarutobi had left to Naruto was on a large plot of land covered in forest near the base of the Hokage monument. It was a fairly large home, three levels including a basement and had its own hot spring out back and an onsen built inside. It had a couple of small gardens for his hobby and fully stocked kitchen and all the utilities he would need. He suspected that Tsunade had seen to it that the home was furnished before he returned. Still he liked his new home all the same, though it was pretty big for just himself. He figured it must have belonged to a noble family that either moved or died out due to the amount of bedrooms and size of the place.

He unpacked all his items from his sealing scrolls and left them in their proper places. He then fixed him a small lunch of Miso soup, a couple of rice balls and some onigiri. He still liked his ramen but he never passed up the chance to eat different foods now that he could.

At training ground 7 there was a large group gathered. Asuma, Kakashi, Gai and Kurenai were there along with Tsunade and Jiraiya. Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru and Chouji were also present along with Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Temari and Ino. The former Genin rookies had been surprised to find out that Naruto had returned and were looking forward to seeing him again, some more so than others.

"How strong do ya think he's become?" Kiba asked his teammate.

Shino shrugged. "Uzumaki-san has always been a bit of a wild card, it is hard to say." He replied in his usual monotone.

"It's troublesome...but he's probably gotten some decent skills." Shikamaru added.

"Yes! I look forward to seeing just how brightly his flames of youth shine now!" Lee bellowed.

"Agreed my student! He should make a splendid rival for you!" Gai ranted.

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

And que the hug and horrible Genjutsu...as well as everyone cringing and backing away from the two spandex clad men.

Ino shuddered. "I hope Naruto hasn't gotten any weird personality quirks like those two do."

"Same here..." Tenten agreed.

"I am sure, Naruto-kun, will be just fine." Hinata said in her usual shy tone of voice, she had thankfully grown out of her stuttering.

"If he's anything like what he was when he fought, Gaara, then he'll be much stronger." Temari said confidently.

Sakura just nodded her thoughts on Naruto, her eyes slightly glazed over and a faint blush on her cheeks.

Tsunade smirked at the girls...they had no idea just what they were about to see. She then turned to Jiraiya who had his usual smug smile plastered on his face. While she had to admit that he did have good bragging rights it was annoying to see him get so into it.

"It's almost two...what kind of entrance do you expect?" She asked.

"Probably nothing special, he's not much for theatrics anymore unless he's trying for fear tactics."

Sure enough a few minutes later Naruto walked out of the forest and onto the training grounds. He looked mildly surprised at seeing his old friends there but hid it well. His friends, minus Sakura, on the other hand were openly gawking at him and his changes. He idly noted that Ino and Tenten had faint lines of drool coming from their mouths, Sakura looked a bit flushed and Hinata looked ready to pass out...Temari was a bit of a shocker, especially since she was looking him up and down with a odd glint in her eyes.

"Hey...long time no see guys." Naruto greeted.

He nearly laughed out loud when they all waved at him in a rather stunned manner. Kakashi, Gai and Kurenai then walked out, Kakashi pushing up his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan. Knowing that the test was about to start, Naruto removed his scarf and trench coat revealing his muscular upper torso. To her credit, Kurenai only blushed slightly due to her relationship with Asuma. The other girls, except Tsunade, were practically drooling though...she snickered to herself...Naruto was about to gain his own fan club.

Naruto tossed his coat and scarf over towards Sakura and Hinata. "Keep an eye on those for me okay ladies?" He asked kindly...they nodded dumbly.

Naruto then cracked his neck a couple of times and loosened his muscles. They watched as his eyes went from warm, kind and gentle to cold, piercing, calculating and confident in a split second. Even Gai had the presence of mind to get slightly nervous at this.

"Are you ready for your assessment?" Kakashi asked.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

Adopted From Dragonmaster


	2. Tests and Truths

Chapter 2 : Tests and Truths

Naruto looked over at the three Jounin, studying them in a calm and collected manner. His face frozen in an impassive stoic mask. He had heard Kakashi's question and nodded.

"All at once or one at a time?" Naruto asked, his voice now monotone.

Kakashi cringed slightly...the scroll hadn't exaggerated; he really did turn into a different person when fighting.

"One at a time." Kurenai answered. "I was asked to test your skill with Genjutsu, Gai will test your Taijutsu and Kakashi will test both Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu...I will go first."

The world around Naruto suddenly shimmered and was replaced by a dark twisted world with boiling pools of blood, rivers of lava, corpses littering the ground and horrible howls and roars sounding off from all around him. If Naruto had to make a guess this was the Hell's Nightmare Genjutsu. Zombified corpses shuffled their way towards him as grotesque demons and monsters began to appear.

_"Geeze...I have worse nightmares than this...hell I've read worse horror novels and seen worse horror movies." _Naruto thought dryly. _"Though it would work on a weaker minded person...the perks of having a damn demon sealed in me I guess."_

To everyone else nothing had changed. Kurenai was holding her hands in the dragon seal and concentrating very hard after she had called out Hell's Nightmare Jutsu. Most of the people there cringed knowing how horrible that particular Genjutsu could be, it wasn't the worst but it was still bad. What shocked them was the fact that Naruto had not reacted...Jiraiya let out a chuckle.

"You know...the brat suffers from chronic night terrors and nightmares on almost a nightly basis due to his...unique circumstances and childhood. As such he's grown to be quite resistant if not immune to scare tactics. He hasn't woken up from one of his nightmares in a cold sweat or shuddering for almost two years now." Jiraiya said.

Naruto suffered from the memories of beatings and abuses when he was too young to defend himself from mobs of villagers. He was forced to relive the experiences every night, sometimes they were so real he could feel the pain from the beatings. Other ones came from Kyuubi as a last ditch effort to make its container suffer before all its power was drain by Naruto. It was spiteful, yes, but it was a demon fox after all.

Tsunade felt bad for Naruto, that was not the way to harden ones self. Kakashi cringed again at the thought of having nightmares so much to the point that it killed your normal fear factors. Gai just frowned and the others gathered had a sad and worried look on their faces. Sure they knew he had a rough life...but to suffer from chronic night terrors or nightmares...that was...harsh.

Naruto lazily lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers. "Release..." He muttered calmly and let out a large shockwave of chakra effectively destroying the Genjutsu.

Kurenai stopped trying to hold the Genjutsu and stood up with a frown, Naruto had an unnatural lack of fear but she figured that was partially due to having a demon sealed within him...she was only partially right. Kakashi knew the rest of the story...all the beatings, attempted assassinations and near death experiences he experienced as a little kid. He finally dropped the blocks on those horrible memories and used them to literately beat fear itself.

Naruto let out a mirthless chuckle, it served to cool the air about thirty degrees. "Nice try, Kurenai-san, but if there is one thing I've learned is that the only thing that I ever need fear...is myself."

Kurenai shuddered slightly at the tone of his voice and the truth laced in his words. "Test one...Genjutsu pass." She said and swiftly left the field.

Gai then stepped up and released his weights and assumed a Gouken stance. Naruto assumed a stance that gave the impression of a predator hunting its prey...just waiting to strike. It was known as the Ryuuken or Dragon Fist style. A very powerful Taijutsu that needed precise timing and accuracy to accommodate insane amounts of speed, stamina and strength.

"Your flames of youth burn brightly, Naruto-kun! Let us start our youthful match!" Gai bellowed.

Naruto gave a curt nod, blurred and vanished from sight leaving only a slight after image.

_"Holy SHIT! That's FAST!" _Was the thought that ran through everyone's minds.

Gai also vanished. The thunderous sounds of fists and feet meeting flesh rang out through the area as each blow caused minor shockwaves. Both were moving at such high speed and using such force that the only one there that was really able to see everything was Kakashi, to the others they were blurs. Neji and Hinata were barely able to keep up.

"Leaf Whirlwind!" Gai called out and nailed Naruto with the attack sending him back a few feet.

Naruto righted himself in mid air and reared back his fist, the muscles on his arm bulging slightly. Jiraiya winced, he knew what was coming next...Naruto's variation of one of Tsunade's favorite moves.

"Dragon Tremor!" Naruto snapped and rammed his fist into the ground.

A massive shockwave tore up the ground as large chunks of earth were ripped up and a fissure was torn up into the earth as it headed for Gai who looked particularly stunned but not enough to get the hell out of dodge. Tsunade had to collect her jaw off the ground along with Sakura, they had to use chakra to enhance their strength to that level...Naruto wasn't...it was all natural!

Naruto shot towards Gai before he could steady himself and shot up nailing the older man in the jaw with a bone shattering uppercut. "Raising Fang!" Naruto barked.

Gai shot up into the air only to have Naruto appear above him, elbow poised to nail his now defenseless form.

"Sundering Dragon Strike!" Naruto snapped.

Gai was met with a harsh blow to the solar plexus and rammed back down into the unforgiving earth below causing it to crater beneath him and Naruto. He spat up some blood. Even his battle hardened body he couldn't handle another blow like that and hope to live.

"I...I forfeit!" Gai winced.

Naruto held out his hand and helped the older man up as Asuma came and helped the battered Taijutsu master off the field. Kakashi at this point was sweating bullets and thanking Kami that he didn't have to test Naruto in Taijutsu...that would have killed him! Rock Lee was for the first time ever stunned speechless, his master, the best Taijutsu master in Fire country, had just gotten his ass handed to him...by Naruto no less! Neji shuddered slightly...if this had been four years ago...he'd be paste on the arena floor. Kiba was thinking of like mind.

"That was a good match Gai-san, perhaps you and Lee could join me in some spars...we could improve each others skills I'm sure." Naruto said modestly, Gai gave him a weak grin and a thumbs up at the offer, one he would not pass up.

Kakashi walked up and pushed back his apprehension. "Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu...think we can skip the Kenjutsu?" He asked.

"Huh...why?" Naruto asked not showing his surprise.

"According to your information scroll you are a master of Mystical Beast style. I am a moderate level with the Flowing Crescent Moon style at best...I wouldn't be able to properly test you." Kakashi answered.

Naruto fought back the urge to grimace; his style was a lost art he had gained from absorbing some of the bastard fox's memories...that was also how he learned Ryuuken. It didn't help that he customized both arts to fit his own tastes either. The Flowing Crescent Moon style was good but no where near the Mystical Beast style.

"Agreed..." Naruto said seemingly relaxing his stance.

Kakashi saw this and threw several shuriken and formed a familiar cross seal. "Shadow Clone Shuriken!"

Naruto smirked and ran through several seals. "Wood Release - Wood Wall Jutsu!" Naruto countered.

A large wall of trees seemingly stuck together grew out of the ground causing everyone to gasp in shock. The last person known to be able to use Wood Element Jutsu to this effect was the First Hokage. Sarutobi had been able to do a few and so did a man named Yamoto.

Kakashi flashed through a few more seals. "Fire Release - Dragon Fire Bullet Jutsu!"

Several balls of fire shot towards the wood wall and set it ablaze. Naruto rolled out of the way and did a few seals. "Wind Release - Drilling Air Bullet Jutsu!"

Six softball sized twisting balls of air shot at Kakashi faster then he could dodge. He vanished in a puff of smoke as the air bullets shredded a log in his place. Kakashi was catching his breath from behind the tree line. A thought crossed through his mind...it would be a low blow...a very low blow but he wondered.

Making three Shadow Clones he then made them Henge into Sauske, Orochimaru and Kabuto. He sent them out to confront Naruto so he could come up with a plan to try to beat him. Test or not, Kakashi wasn't going to give up unless forced too.

Sauske, Orochimaru and Kabuto suddenly appeared from out of the woods. Though Sauske appeared a bit older he was still dressed in his usual outfit and so were the snake and four eyes. Naruto stiffened slightly, his eyes narrowing dangerously, he didn't smell snake or sense tainted chakra so he knew they were fakes but it still pissed him off that his sensei would stoop to that level to try to get a rise out of him.

Jiraiya blanched. "Tsunade-hime...we need to get the hell out of here...now."

Tsunade started and looked at her former teammate and noticed he looked...afraid. "Wha...why?"

"Because Hatake just poked the wrong button." He said with a slight gulp.

"Hello dobe, so nice to see you again." Sauske said cockily.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Kukukuku...what's wrong, Naruto-kun, not happy to see an old friend?" Orochimaru asked silkily.

Naruto's muscles bulged slightly as his chakra levels began to rise rapidly.

"We were never friends; he was just a useless dobe that could never hope to be at my level." Sauske scoffed.

Surprising the hell out of everyone Sakura suddenly shouted in anger. "Kick his ass Naruto!"

A feral grin crossed Naruto's features as his eyes went from piercing blue to baleful red with slit pupils. "Kakashi-sensei...your ass is mine when I find you." Naruto snarled causing said copy ninja to gulp...perhaps this was not the best idea he could have had...

The three clones under the Henge cringed.

Chakra began swirling around Naruto's hands, a powerful orb of spiraling energy forming in each hand, each looking like a miniature typhoon. The clone of Sauske began doing a Chidori in hopes of countering the Rasengan. Naruto slowly pushed both Rasengan together making one very large basketball sized Rasengan.

The raw power whipping up around Naruto was staggering enough to force some of the others to their knees, the power...it was inhuman almost.

"Chidori!" The Sauske clone cried out and dashed at Naruto.

"Odama Rasengan!" Naruto growled and shot towards his opponents.

The massive spiraling sphere shredded through the clone of Sauske, the Chidori glancing off it and discharging in the clones hand. Before the other two clones could even move Naruto had arrived and slammed the large Rasengan into the ground and released it letting out a massive explosion that tore up nearly half of the training ground. Dust and chunks of earth were kicked up ruthlessly and scattered about as a small mushroom cloud rose from the impact zone. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

Kakashi nervously made his way back into the grounds only to suddenly be trapped in a large cage of ice. Naruto walked slowly out of the smoldering crater he had made with his Odama Rasengan, his eyes blue once more but giving off an eerie glow.

The copy ninja gulped as Naruto walked up to the cage, reached through and grabbed the front of his vest and jerked him towards the icy cold constructs keeping him imprisoned.

"If you ever pull something like that again, Sensei or not, I will kick your ass so hard your grandmother will feel it and I will personally burn every perverted book in Fire Country." Naruto growled. "I do not like to be reminded of how foolish I once was or how I lost my friend to the darkness...are we clear?"

"Cr-crystal!" Kakashi gulped.

"Good." Naruto said letting him go and touching the ice prison turning it into water releasing Kakashi. "So, do I pass?" Naruto asked his kind smile and features once again in place showing there really weren't any hard feelings. Scare tactics were fun when they worked.

Kakashi gave his usual eye smile and nodded. "Yeah, you pass...you've grown up allot, Naruto, I'm proud of you."

Naruto chuckled, all tension gone now. "Thanks, Sensei, I had to grow up sometime though and I have people I still wish to protect." He said glancing at his friends.

Glancing about the training ground it was easy to see that nearly all of the area had been destroyed...there were even a few trees uprooted. The truly sad part was...Naruto had only used a quarter of his full power and nowhere near the total amount of skills or jutsu he had. Simply put...anyone below Kage level wasn't much of a challenge to him unless they had an extraordinary gift. Not that he wasn't omni-potent or anything...demons gave him a hell of a time and anything above a six tailed demon would probably wipe the floor with him. And all of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru were Kage level missing ninja; none of them would go down easily.

Naruto walked up to the stunned group of friends, he noted that while they didn't seem afraid of him they were shocked. He had no idea he had made a few of them feel more than a little inadequate with his power. Naruto grabbed his jacket and scarf and placed them back on.

"How the hell did you get so powerful?" Kiba suddenly asked.

"Lots of specialized training and several bouts with enough physical pain that one of Ibiki's torture sessions would seem like a spa treatment." Naruto said dryly.

That caused a wave of cringes to sweep through the group. Upon a closer look at Naruto faint scars could be seen littering his upper body, even the large ones made from Chidori.

"Okay, I'll give you that, but it still doesn't explain how the hell you got so much chakra...it was inhuman." Kiba complained.

An odd look crossed Naruto's eyes for but a second but was replaced by his now usual look.

"I've always had abnormally large amounts of chakra, it was one of the reasons I had so many problems with control as a kid. My parents were also known for their unusually high levels of chakra so it kinda runs in the family." Naruto said by way of half-truth...he wasn't ready to give out that secret yet.

"So you found out who your parents were?" Shikamaru asked, he had a hunch but...

Tsunade answered for them both as she presented Naruto with his new Chunin vest and his clan scroll that had been waiting for him here in Konoha.

"Naruto is the son the Kushina Uzumaki, last heiress of Whirpool's Uzumaki clan and his father is Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash and our late Fourth Hokage of Konoha...also the last of the Namikaze clan." She said.

Shikamaru smirked. "Figured a much..." He mused. _"Now if I could only figure out why the Fourth would seal a demon into his own son then the puzzle would be complete. Troublesome...but Naruto won't be giving out information like that anytime soon...oh well." _

"Perhaps that explains, Naruto-kun's, changes! He has ignited his flames of youth to burn brighter to honor his father!" Lee exclaimed.

Naruto sweatdropped. "Not quite Lee." He said dryly.

Neji frowned; he had looked Naruto over with his Byakugan. Naruto's chakra coils were three times the size a normal persons should be, his core had grown exponentially, there was a second chakra core attached to the original and they were so damn bright it was blinding to look at them. Neji was positive that Naruto's power had grown far beyond what he had shown...meaning he had acquired at the lest Elite Jounin level skills considering the ease he had in dispatching Gai, Kurenai and Kakashi. Still...it didn't answer one question.

"It is true that you have become more powerful and obviously more skilled, Naruto-san, but your personality has also changed drastically from how you used to be...to be honest we did not expect such a drastic change." Neji stated.

Naruto sighed. He knew he would eventually have to let them in on his secrets but now wasn't the time so he would tell them part of the story.

"I had some particularly bad memories from my childhood that I didn't want to remember so my mind locked them away. Severe mental trauma does strange things to a person and when those memories were locked away so were certain aspects of my personality. The result was the simple minded, hyperactive knucklehead you all knew. The incident also severely screwed up my ability to have proper thought processes without total concentration and gave me a rather short attention span for the most part." Naruto said, an odd look crossing his face...a cross between looking as if he had bitten something sour and a pained look.

"I guess I had thought that so long as I remained a kid then nothing really bad could happen to me. Unlike most of you guys I never had a family nor did I know what having a family was like. I have lived on my own since I was four years old since the orphanage I was in kicked me out. I have been hated and despised for things beyond my control since I was born that led to various...bad things happening in my life. Still...I survived. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? Because of this hate though...I never had anyone that was willing to properly teach me anything. The only two people willing to in the beginning were very busy and I didn't want to add to their burdens so I tried my best to learn things on my own. Obviously I didn't do a very good job but it was enough to survive. My extreme like for Ramen was born from the fact that it was the only food I could afford. The reason I wore those damn orange jumpsuits were because it was the only things the shops would sell me...at triple the cost value and it at least gave me some attention, something as a child I had craved. My tools...I scrounged them from the needed to be fixed or needed to be tossed bins behind Ninja tool shops."

Everyone had gone dead silent as Naruto began explaining some of his life to them. None of them knew it had been that bad...though they though he might be exaggerating the sad and shamed looks on the adults told them otherwise...the looks told them he was severely sugar coating the story. That little fact hit each of them in the gut like a lead weight.

"I've never had an easy life, I never wanted one either, though it would have been nice to have things a little more pleasant then they were and still will be. After my experience with Uchiha I began to recall the memories my mind locked away, hence my problem with nightmares and such. I had to take a good, long and hard look at my life and make a choice. I could remain the idiot buffoon that wallowed in ignorance or I could bite the kunai, act like myself and throw myself into my training to earn and gain the power and skills I needed to keep my promises as well as my Nindo."

"To answer your current question and a past one, Neji, even someone like me has to grow up sometime. Childish dreams play time and games are fun and all but they get you nowhere in the real world or in real life." Naruto said and began removing his wrapping around his stomach.

As the last of the wrapping fell they were all treated to the sight of an angry glowing crimson seal that seemed to sear into his flesh and pulse with a sick blood red glow.

"Neji...when you said I could have no idea what it was like to be marked by something against my will...you my friend were quite wrong. I have had this seal since I was a newborn. I will have it until its purpose is finished. It is the reason I am hated, it is the reason I am more powerful than I should be. It is my gift and my curse...my burden that I carry alone, a cross that only I can bare." Naruto said and swiftly began re-wrapping his bandages.

"Perhaps in time I will tell you all the true meaning of this seal. But once you know the truth...none of you will ever be able to look at me in the same light again." Naruto turned to the adults and noticed Tsunade looked like she was forcing back tears, he sighed once more. "Tsunade-sama, if you deem them worthy of the secret...I give you and only you the permission to tell them. If you do decide to tell them then have Jiraiya and Kakashi help fill in some of the blanks. Now...I've got some things to attend to at home, I will come by in the morning to be re-instated into active Shinobi duty." Naruto stated, turned and walked a few feet before vanished in a swirl of fire.

Sakura was shivering as she remembered the Cursed Heaven Seal that Sauske had, Naruto's seal didn't look like a Cursed Heaven Seal but it was obviously not anything good. The only consolation she could find was that it didn't seem to affect him personally too much...maybe it wasn't something she should worry to much about...yet.

Neji had gone silent...so...Naruto was truly cursed just as he was. Yet...Naruto fought against fate and made his own destiny. Neji had been trying to do so himself but he found it hard at times...perhaps he too needed to try harder.

Tsunade decided to speak up before questions started flying. "I am sorry but if any of you want to know about the truth behind the seal on Naruto you will not only need his express trust buy mine as well plus his permission and presence when the information is given. It is considered a SS-Class secret and we will leave it at that. Now, you may all return to what you were doing, I have some work to do at the office, good day to you all." Tsunade stated before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. Jiraiya and the other adults followed suit leaving a very confused and curious group of teens.

Naruto stood silently upon the head carving of his father on the Hokage monument. Unlike earlier he wasn't bothering to hide his six long golden blonde and silver tipped furry tails. His ears now resembling that of a fox and up higher on his head, his eyes still the same icy sapphire blue but with slit pupils.

It was dusk, and he watched as the clouds in the sky swirled with various pinks, blues and purples as the sun began to set in the distance. The lights of the village began lighting up as the night time stars began littering the sky. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold. Though his mind was on other matters at the moment.

_"I shouldn't have said what I did earlier...I've just guaranteed that they will all learn about the damn fox now. (Sigh) I knew it would have to happen eventually though...perhaps better sooner than later. It will make the pain of their rejections hurt less."_

_"Sakura-chan...she sure grew into a beautiful young woman...so did Hinata, Ino, Tenten and Temari for that matter. Heh...it's not like it really matters in my case. I never had a chance with any of them as a human...as a Hanyou it will be a cold day in hell. All that time I spent trying to learn about how to be a gentleman was probably wasted...still...at least I won't look like an ignorant moron in public anymore so that's a plus."_

_"I wonder how long I will be able to stay here when the truth gets out...will they exile me or try to have me executed? Ero-sennin seems to think that things will work out but I think he's being a bit over optimistic. Granted I prefer to look at things in a positive light but one still needs to see things realistically as well."_

Naruto glanced down at his pocket where his clan scroll was sitting. He had yet to read its contents, it was likely just a letter from his father and some information of what would be expected of him as a Namikaze. He'd read it later, perhaps with Tsunade in private so she could answer any questions he might have.

_"I wonder...dad...would you be proud of me? What about mom? Would either of you despise me for becoming part demon? I know I was chosen for the sealing because you didn't have the heart to do that to another persons child...you knew didn't you dad...you knew what would happen but you knew I would be strong enough to handle it didn't you? Heh...sometimes I question your wisdom and judgment on that pops...there are times that I still want to just either curl up and die or just vanish off the face of the earth. But...that would be giving up and I'll be damned if I just gave up...just not my nature I guess."_

_"I still have much to do, many precious people to protect and promises to keep. Perhaps once that is all taken care of...I can find a place to belong...a place where I can just be a normal person. Considering my damn lifespan so long as I'm not killed it shouldn't be to hard...a few centuries and I'll be all but forgotten and then I could have a fresh start. I'll do that if becoming Hokage really just turns out to be a fruitless dream."_

_"I should also try to keep an arms distance from my friends, even if they do accept me I doubt any of them will be at ease around me. Hell even Ero-sennin gets nervous around me sometimes. Guess my decision on giving up on Sakura-chan was the smart choice after all...besides she's always going to love Sauske-teme, I've always known that...it just hurts to admit it."_

_"Such is the life of a Jinchuuriki...we are a living sacrifice...our purpose is to sacrifice all that we are for the sake of others until either we die or we are forgotten in the passing of time. Though...I wonder if any other Jinchuuriki have become Hanyou? Probably not...Hanyou are beyond rare."_

Naruto's introspection was cut off by a faint sound and the scent of books and dogs. He remained silent and continued to watch the sun set.

"Yo...thought I might find you up here." Kakashi said walking up. "How you doing, Naruto?"

"I'm fine...did Tsunade or Ero-sennin send you to find me?" He answered with a slight chuckle.

Kakashi frowned behind his mask. It seemed old habits did indeed die hard, Naruto still put on masks to hide his feelings and what he was thinking. It was obvious that the young man was dealing with some rather deep internal turmoil. Something he, Kakashi, was all to familiar with...he too still dealt with his inner demons daily, though not in the literate sense like Naruto does.

"Neither sent me...I just wanted to see if you wanted to talk about it...might make you feel better." Kakashi offered.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "You've never really offered this kind of help before, Kakashi-sensei, what's the change for?"

Kakashi sighed. "I made allot of mistakes when acting as your Sensei for Team 7, I am trying to correct them as best as I can now. Sauske was perhaps always out of reach and I shouldn't have shown such favoritism...something I will always regret. But I still need to try and help where I can. If it's any consolation...I know some of what you're feeling."

Naruto nodded; there was no deception in his words or hidden agenda. He also knew that Kakashi had indeed had a pretty harsh life, not in the same sense that he had growing up, but still hard none the less with the loss of his best friend Obito and the disappearance of Rin...the first girl he had loved. As for past mistakes...who was he to judge, he wasn't perfect either.

"I'm surprised the ears and tails haven't freaked you out yet." Naruto suddenly spoke.

Kakashi shrugged. "Should they? I read over the report scroll that Jiraiya-sama made of your trip, I'm aware that you became a Hanyou...and that while you hate hiding it you also fear other peoples reactions. So long as you remain true to yourself and remember who you are then physical and outer changes don't matter."

"That's true, but I doubt that the vast majority of the village would agree with you. I am after all a living, walking, talking reminder of the horror of that day Kyuubi attacked and the losses that were suffered. As a Jinchuuriki it really doesn't matter what I want or feel...so long as I fulfill my purpose as the sacrifice." Naruto stated and Kakashi frowned.

"Still...just because I have to sacrifice all that I am as a Jinchuuriki it doesn't mean that I don't fight it. I still live as best as I can and use my power to protect my precious people...so don't worry about me pulling an Itachi or a Sauske. I just learned that weather I like it or not there were just some things I had the accept, I can still try to change those things and will continue to try but if they never change then that is just how it has to be." Naruto said.

"What...are you getting at, Naruto?" Kakashi asked a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Well...remember how my dream was to become Hokage...do you honestly think a village that refuses to see me as anything more than the monster that I imprison will allow me to become Hokage? Do you think they would handle it any better once they find out I am a Hanyou...or that when I turn eighteen that I will become the next Kyuubi? That is what I meant by my gift and my curse. My gift is the power to protect those I care for...my curse is to be first the sacrifice and then a demon. I will be able to retain my humanity in heart and soul but my body will forever be changed. Even now if I so choose to I can take the form of a six tailed fox. Dreams are nice and they are worth fighting for but the reality is that we all have to grow up sometime and accept certain facts."

"None of the villagers see me as Naruto, they still see me as the Kyuubi incarnate...sadly that is now a fact and not just ignorant ramblings of prejudice villagers. The day the seal was placed on me my entire existence was cursed, though I have been able to over come some of it I can only do so much alone...I can not make people see me as I want to be seen, that is up to them. Despite all that I've done for Konoha...all that I've tried to prove I am still sneered at, spat at and hated by the general masses. That is part of the reason I showed my seal today...it would have only been a matter of time before the secret got out one way or another...now it is up to them...either they accept me...or persecute me. Either way I still have my duty and my promises to fulfill...even if I must do so alone." Naruto said, a small sad smile gracing his features.

Kakashi felt sick, what Naruto had said was the truth. You can only do just so much to show who you are through actions and deeds if people were unwilling to change their own minds then things will only remain the same. The truly sad part...Naruto had accepted this, was still going to fight a seemingly losing battle until either he died or was forgotten but those he promised to protect.

"Does this mean you are giving up on becoming Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

"Nope, not a chance in hell. I still want to become Hokage and there is always a chance, no matter how slight it might be. But I do expect the council to try and either exile or execute me before I ever get the chance. I know for a fact that only a small handful of people on the council even respect Old man Sarutobi's and my fathers wishes concerning me." Naruto said. "I'm just contemplating on how close I should allow my friends to get should some of them accept me as I am now."

"You sound like you expect them to be like the damn villagers." Kakashi said crossing his arms.

"Well it wouldn't be a first." The young Hanyou replied dryly.

"Surely you don't think that Sakura would act like that? I thought that you were…well…?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto let out a sigh. "Sensei...I gave up on Sakura-chan about three years ago. Her heart belongs to Uchiha; it always has and probably always will. She's a good friend but I don't think she'd like the fact I'm half Fox Demon. It was hard to finally realize that...and it hurt. But the simple fact remains she is a human...I am not, no matter how much I act like one. I will always be her friend, even if she end up hating me." Naruto said shrugging.

"Damn...you have changed allot. But don't you think your being a little to down on this? I mean surly you have a chance at happiness somewhere." Kakashi said.

"Maybe someday...in a few centuries when my name only appears in text and not memory. To be honest I really don't know how people will handle the truth about me now, I hope that I am wrong, I really do but I'm not going to get my hopes up only to have everything crash back in my face." Naruto said, frowned and turned slightly to gaze into the dark forest behind him.

He didn't notice Kakashi begin to sweat slightly.

Naruto shrugged it off...there had been a slight scent but it had been muffled. He could sense a few Genjutsu...like the ones ANBU used to conceal themselves. Figuring that was what it was since the ANBU were always prowling about he let it go.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to head home, get a bit of dinner and go to sleep. I'll see ya around." Naruto said and leapt off the monument and vanished from sight.

Kakashi turned around he had known someone had followed him...but he wasn't sure just who it was since they actually hid themselves pretty good...though he was nearly certain one of the presences was Sakura.

"You guys are lucky he passed you off as something else...ANBU most likely...now come on out." Kakashi said his hand near his kunai pouch just in case.

Sakura was the first one to walk out...the others that followed surprised the hell out of Kakashi. Following her out was Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Temari. Each of them had a pensive and slightly sad look on their face. Kakashi relaxed a bit and sighed...so much for secrets.

"You ladies do realize that what you saw and heard must never be repeated...if you do...it could mean your deaths." He said in his usual lazy tone.

They nodded.

"Sensei...was it really all true?" Sakura asked nervously.

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. "Do you intend to treat him like those ignorant bastards in the village do?" He almost growled.

"NO!" Sakura yelled a disgusted look on her face. "I want to help him dammit!"

Non-plused Kakashi asked. "Oh...and why is that? Is it because you're his friend or is it something else?"

"I...I used to treat him horribly." She said looking down ashamed. "I had no...idea his life was so bad, not that, that is a worthy excuse but I want to help him now. He's always risked so much for me and never asked for anything in return...I just want him to see that he is accepted...even if he does have fox tails and ears. It's not like he asked for what happened to him is it?"

"No...no he didn't." Kakashi sighed. "I assume the rest of you ladies feel the same?" He asked the other girls.

"Yes, if it hadn't been for Naruto, my little brother would never have regained his humanity and found a reason to live." Temari said.

Ino nodded as well. "Naruto risked his life to protect me more than once when we were younger and went on a mission with Anko-sensei. I have never forgotten that."

"He helped my friend Neji see that he didn't have to bow to fate...that he could make his own destiny." Tenten said.

"Naruto-kun gave me strength...he helped me to grow strong and believed in me when no one else did." Hinata said.

_"Interesting...so, Naruto has touched each of these girls' lives in some way or another. Helping them without ever expecting anything in return...perhaps...maybe they could help him heal the wounds on his soul now. It will take time...but maybe Naruto doesn't have it as bad off as he thinks he does." _Kakashi thought.

"That is good to hear. Naruto needs friends like you five to be there for him, I think the burdens of his life have finally started to weigh him down to much. But don't rush into anything; it will take time and patience for him to heal from all the bad things that have happened. Just be there for him, let him know he is wanted and that none of you care about what he is...it is who he is that counts. I'll let all of you think it over for a while...just remember to keep things quiet and good luck." Kakashi said and vanished in a swirl of leaves...perhaps some talks with Tsunade would help things along as well.

Five girls either walked or Shunshin'ed away deep in thought. This had been a day for big revelations and they each needed to sort things out in their heads before they tried to help out their favorite blonde fox-boy. Each also secretly making plans on getting Naruto to warm up to them...in hopes of not only gaining his friendship but love as well.

Naruto sneezed five times as he washed his dinner dishes and felt a couple of odd sensations run up and down his spine. "What the hell was that all about?" He wondered as he continued to wash dishes. A sudden sneaking feeling told him that things were going to change soon...be they for better or worse...only time would tell.

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	3. Schemes and Scrolls

Chapter 3 : Schemes and Scrolls

After leaving the five girls to their own devices, Kakashi decided that a little report to Tsunade and Jiraiya was in order, though he knew they had watched the whole thing via the Hokage's Crystal viewing orb. Kakashi walked into the office and sure enough Tsunade was at her desk with the crystal orb in front of her and her usual bottle of sake to the side, Jiraiya was a few feet away, leaning against the wall and Shizune was sitting next to Tsunade with Ton-Ton next to her sleeping.

"I take it you all saw that?" Kakashi asked nonchalant.

They nodded and Jiraiya sighed.

"I knew the brat was still having some problems but he's so damn good at hiding his emotions at times its hard to tell what the hell he is thinking. He was like this in training sometimes...pushing himself beyond his limits..." Jiraiya said looking thoughtful and beginning an explanation.

_**Flashback...**_

_Jiraiya shielded himself from the massive explosion caused by another one of Naruto's newly created jutsu's, a variation of the Rasengan he called the Rasen-Shuriken. It made a Rasengan and then Naruto would manipulate the chakra into a massive spiraling four bladed shuriken of pure chakra. The problem with the attack was that one...it tore his arm to shreds and two he hadn't figured out how to throw it yet since it didn't act like his Bullet Rasengan. _

_"D-dammit..." Naruto panted and dropped to his knees, his teeth gritted in immense pain. Three tails weakly moving behind him._

_Jiraiya ran up, cringed and winced at the same time. Naruto's entire right arm was shredded, in some places the bone was clearly visible. Most of the flesh on Naruto's hand had been ripped off leaving only a few nerve endings, bone and shredded tissue. _

_"NARUTO! Are you trying to fucking kill yourself!?" Jiraiya raged._

_Shakily Naruto raised his maimed hand and arm as crimson chakra leaked out. Slowly tissue, muscle, veins, arteries and nerves began growing back. Naruto's face was twisted in a scowl of pain as the chakra also caused a searing burning sensation to rip through his arm as it repaired him. A spurt of blood from behind the teen hit the ground as a fourth tail grew from his spine. _

_"S-sorry...Ero-sennin, but I must do this. I have to get stronger so I can protect my precious people and keep my promise...I was too weak to bring Sauske back the first time. I was too damn foolish and ignorant to realize...that I needed...to grow up...and stop...being a kid...to...take responsibility for my actions..." Naruto ground out through gritted teeth._

_"Naruto...I...I know how you feel. When, Orochimaru defected from Konoha I blamed myself. I always thought what if I had been a better friend, what if I could have prevented it...what if this, what if that...but the truth was, Orochimaru, chose his own path of his own twisted free will and there wasn't anything I or anyone else could have done to stop him...Uchiha is the same, granted the cursed seal corrodes the mind but he didn't have it long enough or use it enough to do that type of damage. It was his own darkness...his own thirst for power that let him make the decision to become a traitor; had he truly cared...he wouldn't have betrayed all of you for selfish ambitions and delusions of grandeur and power." Jiraiya said placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder._

_"You don't think I don't already know that?" Naruto asked in a quiet monotone. "Childish ignorance allowed me to believe that he was my friend...my brother if you want. But the damn reality is I was nothing more than a rival first and a stepping stone to the Magenkyo second." A dark scowl crossed Naruto's features._

_"I was arrogant and stupid. And then in a childish hope of making the girl I liked happy, I tossed my own desires to the wind and made a promise to bring the bastard back to her. I realize now that was just another one of my childish mistakes but it would be dishonorable to break a promise...even if it shouldn't have been made. So I will return the bastard to her...beaten to within an inch of his pampered and spoiled life if I must."_

_"Then there is the Akatsuki...they want to rule the damn world using the power of the Biju. Damn fool hardy bastards don't realize that if they try to do things like that, that they will open a Pandora's box that they won't be able to close. Those are two of the main reasons I work so damn hard...I can't let that happen and I will not let them hurt my friends so a little pain means nothing." Naruto stated as he watched skin start to form on his hand, the healing nearly finished._

_Jiraiya sighed. "But do you have to nearly kill yourself? And who the hell said anything about having to toss your own happiness away. If you like that Sakura girl then you should tell her, the Uchiha be damned." _

_Naruto gave a bitter chuckle._

_"If only it were that easy. She could never love me, especially now that I truly am a demon..." Jiraiya resisted an urge to bop him upside the head for that remark. "...she will always be in love with Sauske because she has yet to grow up and out of foolish obsession...she might never get over that. Besides...I am a Jinchuuriki...it is my job, my duty and my curse to always sacrifice everything that I am for the benefit of others. Granted I fight against it but sometimes...I just grow tired of it all." Naruto closed his eyes. "Even I have my emotional limits..." He then passed out from chakra exhaustion and pain._

_Jiraiya frowned, ever since he tinkered with the seal and Naruto began absorbing the demon fox at an accelerated rate and the demon stopped messing with his mind and thought processes...Naruto had become much smarter. But with that came many painful truths, memories of the past and nasty realizations that no person his age should have to deal with. Granted the abuses and tortures he suffered as a child didn't help but the realization of a Jinchuuriki's role basically karma's way of kicking you in the nuts...more than once, dangling something you desire in front of you and then delivering another kick whenever you try to obtain it. _

_**End Flashback...**_

"And that's pretty much how it went." Jiraiya said tiredly. "The kid has had a damn rough life with on boot to the ass after another. Anything he has gained has only come from sacrifice. Every day he sacrifices something be it happiness, physical or mental health or even power at times just to ensure that everyone else remains in their own blissful little worlds. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better if he had just remained the happy go lucky knucklehead he was before I messed with the seal and stopped that damn fox from messing with his mind...at least he was happier when he was dimwitted."

"But...it's not like he doesn't have happy moments now right?" Shizune asked a bit upset for her little brother.

"He does sometimes, be he hates pity so he puts on a smile so people don't worry about him. He may have gotten rid of the facade of the fool but he still wears a facade, always smiling...just not in the ignorant or arrogant manner he used to." Jiraiya shrugged a bit. "By nature he is a very kind, gentle and giving person...but he has a darker nature as well born from all the hate and pain he has received. It doesn't control him thankfully but sometimes it does get out...especially if he loses himself to anger or rage. The damn fox can't take him over anymore but the kids own rage is nearly as bad and brings out a blood thirst comparable to Kyuubi's."

Tsunade frowned. "Do you think that could become a problem?"

"I don't think so, I've yet to see him attack an innocent but when he's like that I still can't get through to him. I learned to just wait it out until he either cools off or kills what pissed him off." Jiraiya answered.

"Hmm...I wonder if your jewel or Tanzo's special abilities could suppress his power when he's like that to cool him off." Kakashi wondered.

"It would if he was an actual Biju or if he was using Kyuubi's tainted chakra when he gets like that." Jiraiya mused.

"Tainted chakra?" Shizune and Tsunade asked in unison.

Jiraiya nodded. "When the seal was adjusted and the extra seal that Shinigami placed on him was revealed I discovered that it purified the evil from Kyuubi's chakra. It was still left as demonic chakra and too powerful for humans to handle in large amounts but it no longer held the taint of evil and malice that Kyuubi's influence put into it. That also led to the birth of a third type of chakra...a purple colored chakra that Naruto calls Chaos Chakra. It's a perfect fusion of Human and Demon chakra's but is fuels solely on emotions, thankfully it doesn't seem that it can be tainted. But depending on Naruto's emotions at the time depends on how it can work and since it is a fusion of human and demon chakra...it's much stronger, requires less control than demon chakra but more than human but if used in large amounts it leaves his body more stressed and weak when he stops using it. Kind of like a trump card if you will, he can use it for any type of jutsu, medical included, but if used for prolonged periods of time or for long battles it can put him into a stasis coma afterwards...until its reserves replenish and his body recovers." The old pervert explained.

"That could be problematic." Kakashi frowned.

The others nodded.

"Chaos Chakra also slows his healing and regeneration factors, but since he's a Hanyou its not to bad...though it will leave him with slower healing abilities than usual and won't stop scars from appearing if he were human it would kill him. I guess it's a double edged sword, especially if he's in one of those stasis coma's, those leave him weak, low healing factors and very vulnerable to attack or assassination or poisons. So he tries not to use that power unless he has too." Jiraiya added.

Kakashi sighed. "Well...back to the reason I came here...what do you think we should do about the girls. They found out his secret and I don't think he knows that they were there but he did suspect someone was despite all the concealing jutsu they used. Personally I think they would be good for him, he could use a bit of brightness in his life."

"I agree but I don't want him to turn into a bigamist or a playboy either." Tsunade stated.

Jiraiya snorted. "Good luck with that. He may have gotten a bit better at reading and knowing what women want but that only goes just so far. He is still painfully innocent with women, did any of you know he's never even kissed a girl before and the only female he's ever really hugged was Tsunade...maybe that Sakura girl but I don't really know. Beyond the more simple factors of a relationship he is completely oblivious and innocent and more than a little shy. I tried to work some of that out of him but he got pissed at me because it was taking time out of his training. He read a few romance novels to get an idea of things but they only helped him a little. He seems to think that no woman in their right mind would want him so he's pretty much brushed aside and abandoned all notion of dating or romance. He'll treat a girl like a princess because that's his nature...but if a girl wants his attention they'll practically have to beat it out of him, especially if they want affection beyond that of good friendship."

Shizune arched an eyebrow. "Surly he isn't that dense...he is a male after all." She said.

"You don't really know Naruto, as well as the rest of us do." Kakashi droned. "The Hyuga heiress has had a crush on him for years, even before he left on the training trip and he never once picked up on it. He might pick up on it now but given the way he thinks he'll just see it as her trying to be nicer to him than most people and will likely not pursue anything because of either some kind of fear of rejection or simply because he is a Jinchuuriki."

"Other than what he's read in books he has no knowledge or experience with relationships or women." Jiraiya added. "Anything beyond the simpler emotions will confuse him. He's adaptable enough to learn how to deal with them quickly but given his past I'm not sure just how he will deal with things like that, he might choose to avoid relationships all together just to avoid any trouble it might cause, especially since the villagers still hate him with a passion...he will likely refuse any romantic advances if for nothing more than to protect any girl interested in him from those small minded bastards."

"That might piss the council off as well." Tsunade mused. "Because of his Omni-Element Kekkei Genkai some of them will likely want him to...for lack of better words...become a breeding tool. They would have enforced the Clan Restoration Act on the Uchiha had he not defected and become labeled as a Missing Ninja. They might or might not try to enforce that on Naruto...hard to say with how prejudice some of them are."

"Still...would it be so bad if Naruto-kun had more than one wife? I may be a bit of a prude at times but he's like a little brother to me and I know he could use the happiness...besides from what Jiraiya-sama said he's not a pervert and he's well known for how well he's treated women in the past." Shizune offered.

Tsunade smirked. "You almost sound interested."

"No, I'm not. He is cute, I'll admit, but I'm already dating Iruka and you know that. I just want him to be happy and you should too! You would have adopted him had those bastards on the council not refused." Shizune said with a huff.

"I know, I know." Tsunade sighed. "I also want him to be happy, but like Jiraiya said...he might try to avoid relationships because of all the crap that happened in his past."

Jiraiya let a slight smirk cross his features. "Well then...first we deal with the council. Since he is the last of the Namikaze the council can't execute him, it's forbidden to do so unless he has committed a crime and there is undeniable proof. Exile is also out of the question for the same reason added to the fact he has a Kekkei Genkai, Sarutobi-sensei thought that something like this might happen so when Naruto became a Shinobi he made a scroll containing a law that we can use, he never passed it since he wanted it to be used as a last resort."

"The law simply states that as the last heir of both Uzumaki and Namikaze clans that Naruto cannot be executed or exiled unless he has committed horrible criminal acts. The clause is that in order for him to be prosecuted there must be a large account of undeniable evidence against him. His signature and stamp is already on the scroll along with mine as a witness, all it needs is the current Hokage's signature and stamp and the law can be passed." Jiraiya grinned pulling out the scroll Sarutobi had given him to keep safe.

Tsunade grabbed the scroll, read it over and then quickly signed and stamped it in her own blood.

"That takes care of that problem. The civilians might stop being so harsh towards Naruto too once they discover he is Minato-sensei's son. I know it won't stop all of them but it might stop some of the more sensible ones from being so cruel." Kakashi stated.

"The romance problem will have to wait for a while though. I'm sure those girls, especially my apprentice, will try to get Naruto to warm up towards them and we will help when we can. If by chance he does fall for more than one then we can go from there, so long as he doesn't end up being like Jiraiya I won't have any problems." Tsunade said rolling up the law scroll.

Jiraiya pouted a bit, Kakashi snickered and Shizune nodded. If they all planned carefully enough then good things would be in store for their favorite blonde Shinobi's future.

* * *

The next day found Naruto walking towards the Hokage tower after doing his usual morning training exercises, cleaned up and had a light breakfast. He was glad once again that he could hide his ears and tail by turning into his full human form. Putting his face into an impassive, stoic mask he continued his trek to the tower.

Still...you would have thought four years would change some things but it was still the same. The angry whispers, the foul looks and glares, the sneers from shop owners. Naruto was beginning to wonder if the only way to make these bastards happy was for him to drop of the face of the earth...not like he'd give them the pleasure though.

A particularly rowdy drunk caught sight of him and began bellowing about demons and brats. Naruto just tuned him out. Not happy about being ignored the drunk began chucking empty sake bottles at Naruto. Naruto caught the first two but the third followed right behind the second and he didn't see it until it was too late, the bottle hit his upper forehead and shattered, digging a couple of deep gashes into his head.

Naruto shot the man a glare that could melt lead but otherwise remained quiet and tossed the bottles into a near by bin. Had the man not been drunk...he'd be passing glass for a month. Sick of the bull shit he just ported the rest of the way, vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Tsunade nearly jumped out of her skin when Naruto appeared suddenly in front of her desk with several large gashes on his head and blood flowing down onto his torso. With several quiet curses and some irritated grumbling the teen Hanyou began pulling shards of glass out of his scalp and forehead.

"Wha...what the hell happened!?" Tsunade asked.

"Drunken old bastard, several sake bottles and the usual bullshit...simple enough or do I need to make a detailed report?" He snapped irritably.

Tsunade cringed a bit, she didn't blame him for being pissed but he didn't need to take it out on her.

Pulling the last shard out he sighed as his healing finished up the last wound. He then sighed and began wiping off the blood with his handkerchief. "Sorry about biting your head off, mom, but I'm getting sick of the crap the villagers keep pulling. I swear if that old bastard hadn't been drunk I would have made him eat those bottles after I finished ramming one up his ass for good measure."

Tsunade sighed. "It's okay, kiddo, hopefully after the announcement of your lineage they will cool down or knock it off. Anyway...are you here to reinstate yourself for active duty or is it something else? I've already added you back into the active roster."

"I figured you might, I just came here to read my clan scroll in case I had some questions, besides I figured you might like to spend some time with me considering you haven't seen me in four years." Naruto said his smile once again in place and thankfully not the fake one.

"I'd like that but I have so much damn paperwork to do I might not be much company." She said with a slight grumble.

Naruto chuckled. "You know there is an easier way to do paperwork."

"Huh!? How!?" She asked, her eyes practically begging.

Naruto smirked. "There's a lot to be said about the versatility of the Shadow Clone, whatever they experience you learn when they are dismissed or destroyed. Quite useful for learning chakra control, jutsu's or reading scrolls while your training physically so who says you can't have a Shadow Clone or two do your paperwork for you since you will learn what they did when they've finished and you've dismissed them."

Tsunade's jaw dropped. "I...how...damn..." She muttered and made the familiar seal. "Shadow Clone jutsu." Three clones poofed into existence and the original grinned. "Alright you three, get this paperwork finished up." She ordered, they nodded obediently and started to work.

Naruto chuckled as he began reading through the scroll. Tsunade, giddily opened a bottle of sake and offered Naruto a drink, to her surprise he accepted.

"A down side to being a Hanyou...it will take about thirty of those bottles just to give me a slight buzz, but the taste is good so I make due." Naruto answered the unasked question.

"Sucks to be you kid..." Tsunade muttered and downed another gulp as Naruto bit his thumb and swiped some blood across the bloodline seal on the clan scroll.

The clan scroll was pretty simple. The head of the clan, being him as he is the last, is to assume a place in the council once the heir or head is old enough...being 15 years of age or is Jounin ranked. Naruto wasn't too thrilled with the idea but the law, was the law and by law he was required to be on the Shinobi council as last scion of the Namikaze.

The second part was the duties required of him such as handling the clans financial affairs any civillian businesses owned by the clan or any other matters pertaining there in to other clan members. Being the last his only real duty was to handle the financial affairs since the last of the clans civillian business, a Shinobi tools shop and a small diner, were shut down when the owners died during the last war and then destroyed during the Kyuubi attack.

The rest was about the laws and services he was expected to abide by and do for the village. These were simple since he was an acting Shinobi.

Next came the marriage rituals, laws and customs.

Naruto frowned. "What the hell is Poly...err...Polygamy? I know I've heard Ero-sennin say that word before." He asked with a confused look on his face.

Tsunade promptly spat her sake out after choking on it and her clones giggled...one of them rather perversely.

"What does the scroll say?" Tsunade asked after she stopped hacking.

"Umm...lets see...it's here under the part for Marriage rituals, rights, customs and laws." Naruto began. "Ah...here. As the Namikaze clan predates the founding of Konoha it is still under some old laws and practices. One of which is Polygamy. In the event that there are few to no clan members left, the heir or clan head is within his or her right to practice Polygamy to ensure the continued existence of the Namikaze. If the last scion is female then all children born to her must carry the Namikaze surname by law. Huh...the rest is smudged...I can't read it..." Naruto still looked confused.

Tsunade looked at him for a moment...3...2...1...and busted out laughing to the point tears began streaming down her face. For once fortune has smiled on her and this could be just what they needed to ensure Naruto gained some happiness in his life...all she had to do was play her cards right...a little manipulating here and there...heh, heh, heh.

"What the hell is so funny?" Naruto asked slightly annoyed.

Tsunade calmed herself slightly and regained most of her composure.

"Naruto-kun, Polygamy is the practice of having multiple spouses." She answered with a snicker at his dumbstruck expression.

"Huh!?!?" Was his rather intelligent reply.

She snickered again. "It means that you, as last member of your clan and heir to the Namikaze name can marry more than one woman and will be encouraged to, to ensure the next generation and growth of your clan." She smiled lightly but was holding back a smirk. _"This is perfect! Not only would it really piss off those bastards on the council but if we can get Naruto to warm up a bit some or all of those girls might just have a chance with him. Then they can work on healing all the pain he holds in...that and I want grandbabies!" _

Naruto felt a sudden headache coming on, sighed and rolled the scroll back up. He should have known there would be something like this in the scroll; the teme would have been in the same predicament if he had remained loyal. Then again...he did always wonder if the prick wasn't batting for the other team, after all who in their right mind would pass up girls like Sakura and Ino? Well...he would but he actually had valid reasons, such as keeping them safe and the fact he doubted they would even give him the time of day once they found out what he was. Sauske on the other hand...he had no real reasons, that whole I am an Avenger, crap was a load. Hell he even tried the Sexy Jutsu on him once...not so much as a twitch...though he could swear that he caught Sauske checking Kakashi's ass out once...kami, if his sensei knew that he'd of flipped his gears.

_"Maybe that was part of the reason he went to the pedophile Hebi-teme..." _Naruto let out a slight shudder at the thought.

"Well...at any rate, I'm fine with taking a place on the council as head of the Namikaze...err...sort of. I'll do it but only because its the law. The whole marriage thing...I'll have to think about it, I had planned on never getting married and I doubt that opinion will change any time soon." Naruto commented.

Tsunade frowned...Jiraiya and Kakashi were right...this could be...troublesome.

"Naruto-kun..." She started gently. "I am sure you can meet a nice girl that won't care about your unique circumstances."

"That isn't what I worry about." He lied. "The last thing I want is for some girl to be labeled the villages demon whore and you know as well as I do that will happen. She would be in near constant danger of beatings, abuse and probably rape and I'll be damned if I am the cause of that kind of treatment."

"Don't you want kids someday?" Tsunade asked a bit sadly...the truth in his words stung all the more hearing them coming from his own mouth.

"Yes, I'd love to have children someday; one of my biggest dreams was to have a large family. But unless some miracle happens and I'm suddenly accepted by everyone I will not pursue any kind of relationship further than friendship with any woman." Naruto shrugged. "It's not like I'd know what the hell I was doing anyways...I didn't even get the talk until I went on the trip with Ero-sennin and I tuned most of that out because he was being a bit too perverted for my tastes."

"But if the village became more accepting of you then you would consider it? We...I just want you to be happy, Naruto-kun, everyone deserves to have some happiness in their life and I don't want you to end up like me...well...that is if you could actually age...damn. (Sigh) I just don't want you to feel lonely anymore...you might be able to hide it from most but I can tell and so can Jiraiya and Kakashi...we all know that kind of pain." Tsunade said softly.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and massaged the bridge of his nose for a moment to ward off any possible headaches.

"If I was shown some acceptance I might be inclined to consider dating and thank you for your concern, mom, it is appreciated. But until that time I have promises to keep and a people to protect. The Akatsuki and Orochimaru are dangerous; I need to keep my focus on them and whatever other tasks I might have in the village or what missions you might give me." Naruto said.

_"Well...at least he isn't completely against the idea." _Tsunade mused.

"Was there anything you needed me for today?" Naruto asked.

"There is a council meeting..." She checked the clock. "...in about five minutes...damn I lost track of time again. I suggest you attend since we will be revealing your heritage. The fact that you opened the blood seal on the scroll and the birth certificate that was found with it will be all the proof needed."

"I'm not going to be able to hide the fact I'm part demon anymore am I?" Naruto said more than asked.

"Unfortunately no...it will only be a matter of time before someone figures it out. To be honest some already know of your secret...one of them is Shikamaru...he figured it out on his own. Your friends aren't kids anymore, they are ninja...it will be impossible to keep this a secret from them forever and as Hokage I was duty bound to add all the details concerning you into the reports for the Shinobi council and to effect the Elder and Civilian councils. I'm sorry...I didn't want to add it into the reports but its better done sooner than later." Tsunade apologized.

"Shit...this could cause a lot of problems." Naruto muttered as his mind raced through possible scenarios.

"Don't worry too much, kiddo, Sarutobi-sensei made a law for just such an occasion and had Jiraiya hold onto the scroll for him should it ever be needed. I signed the scroll last night and it has been added to the information given to the council. So unless you are caught with undeniable proof doing some sort of horrible crime or betrayal the council can't execute or exile you." Tsunade smirked and held up the scroll.

Naruto chuckled. "Good old, Ji-chan, always thinking ahead. Well then...this should make things a bit easier. Hmm...since I will likely have missions and such to deal with would you mind if I nominated you as the acting Namikaze representative should I be out of the village?"

"Sure, since I have to attend all the meetings anyways it shouldn't be a problem." Tsunade agreed.

"Let's go then." Naruto smirked.

Tsunade returned the smirk. _"Now...all I have to do is get him a girlfriend or two, get him promoted to Jounin once he has the proper amount of missions under his belt and then I can name him my successor as Hokage and retire in peace!" _

* * *

Naruto and Tsunade walked into the massive council chambers, a large circular room with rows of climbing stands and small desk tops much like those he saw in the academy's lecture halls. On the lowest levels of the seats were the Civilian council members, to his surprise he saw Teuchi Ichiraku amongst them as well as an attractive pink haired woman that looked a lot like Sakura. Just behind them were the Shinobi council seats, amongst them were the Hyuga, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka and Inuzuka clan heads as well as the leader of ROOT ANBU, Danzo, an old war hoarse that has a habit of making his troops into emotionless weapons subservient to him. And finally behind them at the top most seats there were the three elder's seats, one was still empty due to Sarutobi's death. His teammates Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were the only ones there.

"Hokage-sama, why have you brought that...that demon here!?" A pudgy looking merchant from the civilian council asked.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Half-Demon actually and I would have thought as a member of the council you would show a bit more tact and finesse, especially when dealing with someone who has enough power to end your existence at the snap of a finger." Naruto said in monotone, his face masked in his usual stoic and impassive look.

The rotund man began sputtering and turned a nice shade of puce. Homura looked down at the teen Hanyou.

"Is that a threat Uzumaki-san?" Homura asked.

"I'd prefer Namikaze and no, it was not a threat. I was merely trying to put a point across. My point being is that while I do have the power and ability to raze this entire village to the ground I will not. As much as many deserve it I will damn the innocents for the crimes of the ignorant. I will continue my duties here in Konoha as a Shinobi but know this...I am loyal to only Tsunade-hime and those I deem worthy of my loyalty...if I am attacked in anyway I will defend myself as it is my right to do so." Naruto said leveling a diamond hard glare at the entire council.

"I know that many of you do not like me, the feeling is mutual. That aside I still desire a peaceful co-existence with the others living in this village and to take up my duties as the Namikaze clan head. As long as I am granted my peace and if you could kindly see to it that I'm not scowled at, sneered at or hated where ever I go and be allowed to do business with local establishments I will give you my word on my honor and my clans honor that I will do all in my power to protect Konoha and her people so long as they do not attack me." Naruto droned.

The Shinobi council looked sufficiently impressed; the offer was a good one. Konoha would be safe with an up and coming demon lord acting as its protector. Naruto noticed a slight gleam in Danzo's visible eye.

Naruto let out his true form causing many to let out gasps as six golden blond furred tails swayed about behind him. Naruto leveled his gaze with Danzo, the two sizing each other up. Naruto's peircing gave never wavered against Danzo's hungry and calculating one.

"Know this as well...I will not be controlled or toyed with. I am not Konoha's person weapon, I am a Guardian. If one of you tries to control or manipulate me through my precious people or threats..." A massive wave of killing intent washed over the area creating a pressure that made it feel as if the gravity had increased by ten times the usual. **"...then not even hell itself will hide or spare you my wraith. Danzo of ROOT, this applies especially to you...if you harm or threaten anyone I care for...I will rip your entrails out an inch at a time and hang you with them at the village gates as an example. Traitors, Corruption and the like will not be tolerated by me. Am I understood!?" **

Now Danzo was many things...corrupt and cunning were just two of them but he was far from stupid. So until he found a way to gain some measure of control over the demon spawn or kill it he would play his part...at least he could make use of the demon should certain missions or tasks come up.

"Yes, Naruto-dono, I understand...I would rather we be allies than enemies." He lied smoothly.

Naruto still caught the lie but gave a curt nod. Tsunade had a smirk on her face, with Naruto around some much needed trash pick up could happen. Teuchi nodded at him with a smile, Naruto returned the smile and gave a slight wave. The Shinobi council looked both impressed and weary of him...he sighed.

**"I do not wish for any of you to fear me. Though I am a Hanyou, I still just want to be a normal person. I want to have as normal a life as I can and protect people that are precious to me. The demon that attacked this village sixteen years ago is gone. Once I have finished absorbing and purifying the last of its power Shinigami will claim its soul and I will take its place as the nine tailed lord."**

**"At present I am at six of the damnable beast's tails and the other three will be absorbed sometime between now and my eighteenth birthday. I am also currently stronger than Kyuubi was when he attacked due to the face my own human chakra remains, as such I hold more than one source of chakra. I have a natural affinity for all the elements including three sub-elements...should I have children and yes they will be quarter demon by blood, they will inherit my Element Kekkei Genkai as well as other facets of my power...inhuman stamina, strength and speed and large chakra capacities that will rival a Kage's or a Sannin's." **Naruto said...he really didn't want to play this card but it was a minor manipulation considering how Konoha favored its Bloodline Limits.

Tsunade was surprised as well but she knew he was doing this as a measure of gaining favor from the council. She could also use this to her advantage sometime later if she needed to. Naruto himself was mildly surprised to see that he was easily gaining the support of the Shinobi clans...in fact they had all...even the stuck up Hyuga...had seemed to show him, dare he say it, respect since he had entered the chamber. Perhaps things wouldn't be as bad as he first thought, though he still needed to keep an eye out for bastards like Danzo.

"Namikaze-san, might that be your true form?" Koharu asked curiously.

**"Actually my base form is what I came in with; I was human to start off with after all. But I can assume the form of a six tailed fox in various sizes..." **Naruto said and shifted his form again.

After a large puff of black smoke faded, there stood a hoarse sized six tailed fox. However where Kyuubi's form was frightful and instilled fear with its blood red fur and eyes, Naruto's form did not. Naruto had the same golden blonde colored fur as he had hair in his human form and he a set of softly glowing icy sapphire blue eyes. Where Kyuubi's aura had given off a feeling of malice, rage and hatred, Naruto's gave off a feeling of warmth, safety and protection.

**"I can currently increase my size to be about three quarters of what Kyuubi's original size was, once I finished absorbing its tails I will be able to grow a bit larger than that." **Naruto stated and shifted back to his base human form. "I trust that, that is enough to satisfy your curiosity?"

Various heads nodded, some looking at him in awe while others...mainly his previous abusers...looked on in utter fear.

Naruto sighed. "I noticed that some of you still fear me..." He shook his head. "...please do not. I have not given you any reason to fear me. If it is my taking revenge against any of you for past abuses you are worried about then don't. I may not be able to forget but I will readily forgive. I was and still am a living, walking and talking reminder of the horror you all suffered when Kyuubi attacked."

"You all seem to forget though that I too was a victim that day. I lost both of my parents because of that damn fox-teme and was then forced against my will to carry my parents and many innocents murderer around inside of me while I suffered for its crimes. I sacrificed my entire childhood. I am a Jinchuuriki...the living embodiment of sacrifice, the jailor and eventual executioner of the nine tailed lord Kyuubi. Once the fox is gone my job as a Jinchuuriki will be finished but not my duty as a Shinobi or a Guardian. I still don't expect many of you to like me nor do I ask for anything more than some simple acceptance so that we may all move on with our lives." Naruto said looking around the room.

Tsunade was impressed, she hadn't expected Naruto to change the meeting around as he had done but he wasn't the Number one most Surprising and Unpredictable Shinobi for nothing. It was time...

"Honored members of the council, Naruto Namikaze, has now spoken his peace and intentions for the future thus far. I now ask for a vote. Will you accept him as the Clan heir of the Namikaze, allow him to take his rightful place as a member of the council...me being his speaker when he is not present and accept his offers for protection in return for his own well deserved peace and acceptance?" Tsunade asked. To vote Yay...raise your hands now.

Every member of the Shinobi council and surprisingly the two elders raised their hands followed by about half of the civilian council. When the call for nay came up only a few civilian council members raised their hands and even then it was half heartedly due to the fact they knew they were beaten.

Naruto bowed to the council. "I thank you for the chance you have given me; I will do what I can to ensure that none of you are disappointed."

"Good...now then, later today, Naruto, will be publicly announced as the heir to the Namikaze clan. However the thirds law still stands, as such only Naruto can tell those he wishes about his Hanyou status and the Kyuubi. I know he has planned on telling some of his friends in the near future anyway so do not concern yourselves with minor details. Now...we all have much to do so as of now this meeting is dismissed." Tsunade said.

Both Naruto and Tsunade turned and walked out of the chambers. Some rather deep revelations had been made this day but be they for better or worse...no one was sure. The only thing they did know was that things would definitely be different from this day forward.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	4. Ambush

Chapter 4 : Ambush

About two weeks had passed since Naruto's return from his training trip with Jiraiya. The whole thing with the council and the slight uproar it caused afterwards lasted for a few days. Naruto was announced as the Namikaze heir the next day and while it did set a decent number of the villagers straight and made a few feel guilty for being so cruel to their savior's son, a large amount still hated Naruto. A mob of irate civilians did try to attack him two days after his meeting with the council...try being the key word. They were all now in Konoha General Hospital recovering from broken bones and in one case severe head trauma. After they were healthy enough to leave, they each had a nice little jail cell waiting for them, to which they didn't really mind at this point...better than being out in public where Naruto could find them again.

It was a tense peace between him and the villagers, one that would not likely last if they let their ignorance get the better of their judgment.

Tsunade, Shizune and Kakashi also set to work on their own little plans for our favorite blonde Hanyou. Shizune let Naruto's clan status as last heir and his ability to have more than one wife due to the Namikaze practicing Polygamy leak out. Tsunade, since she knew that Temari was interested, contacted Gaara. The young Kazekage was very much for the idea and if need be would tender an arranged marriage proposal under the pretense of strengthening bonds between Sand and Leaf...Gaara never did much like Shikamaru due to the boys laziness. Kakashi kept Naruto busy with some training and simple inner village D and C-Rank missions since things were quiet.

In the past Naruto would have complained allot about doing such easy low ranked missions but during his training trip, in order to gain more travel money when missions from Tsunade were sparse, Naruto had to gain a number of non-shinobi skills due to Jiraiya's...rich tastes and tendency to waste money on women and booze. As such Naruto learned Carpentry, Smithing, Land Scaping and Construction. He used these as a form of physical training while his Shadow Clones covered things like Chakra control, reading books and scrolls and Jutsu training. In the end, due to the large mass of Shadow Clones Naruto could use he ended up with roughly four hundred years worth of training in just four years since he made one hundred clones per day when he wasn't training by himself.

The inner village missions were quite simple given his amount of skills. Gardening had always been one of his hobbies and the Yamanaka flower shop occasionally needed some extra help in the green houses so Naruto was assigned or rather hired as a part timer...much to Ino's delight. Cooking was another thing that Naruto had become good at, especially baking. So Yuki Haruno, knowing her daughter liked Naruto, often requested his assistance at Haruno Bakery. Tenten owned her own weapons smith and shop, left to her by her parents, and had asked Naruto to help her out every now and then since he was good with a forge. Hinata and Temari worked mostly at the Hokage tower when not on missions or training since Hinata was getting medical training along with Ino and Sakura and Temari had paperwork and such to deal with due to her position as ambassador. Naruto had limited medical skills so he occasionally sat in on Tsunade's and Shizune's lessons. He also helped Temari with her work on various trade agreements between Leaf and Sand figuring it would be good practice should he ever achieve his dream. It turned out he was quite good with finding flaws in trade agreements and contracts.

Naruto had no idea that Tsunade, Kakashi and Shizune had set up all these odd-jobs or C/D-Ranks just to get him closer to the girls. He never would either...due to being oblivious to the fact that it wasn't anything more than a simple assignment that he was lucky enough to be doing with friends. He did still get the occasional B or A-Rank though so as to not raise his suspicions. Hence why he wasn't present in the village at the moment. He was on a B-Rank escort and delivery mission. He was to escort a rich nobleman back to Wine Country and deliver a large shipment scroll full of fine wines back to Konoha. Sure it wasn't to high class but the man was the target of several missing ninja so it would work and satisfy Naruto's need for a bit of excitement...more than he would have thought.

* * *

Naruto had been walking back to Konoha at a leisurely pace. He had already sent the shipment ahead with one of his summoned toads, a large blue one named Gamatachi. He had only just passed Fire Countries borders three hours ago when he was ambushed by a familiar face and a group of not so familiar faces. Mizuki had somehow escaped from prison and joined Sound...probably during the Sand-Sound attack. It didn't help that the bastard had a level two cursed seal that made him look like some sort of demented Weretiger, nor did it help that he could smell that the Oto-Hunter ninja had weapons laced with a deadly poison called Demons Bane...it was a supposedly holy herb that was made to kill demons, meaning he was in for a world of pain if he was hit.

Naruto drew Ebony and Ivory from their sheaths and twirled them once before settling into a stance, Ebony's blade resting on his shoulder.

"Aw...a reunion party, just for me? You shouldn't have Mizuki-teme." Naruto smirked.

The cursed seal enhanced Mizuki glowered at Naruto, his glowing putrid yellow eyes narrowing as horribly tainted purple chakra surrounded him. Naruto knew what kind of chakra this was...it was amongst the worst there was, it was Devil chakra, the cursed seals seemed to draw upon it as an energy source. He and Jiraiya had discovered that Orochimaru created the seal from the cells and chemicals within a man who had somehow been tainted and genetically altered by some sort of Devil. The seal holds a good portion of the tainted devil chakra in it and once it is placed it siphons and taints the holder's chakra and in turn their genetics turning them into a part devil.

Devil Chakra was much like Demon Chakra. The only difference was that not all Demonic chakra was tainted and when it was it could be purified. Devil energy was evil incarnate...vile and sickening evil in its purest form...it cannot be purified. Also where as Demon's tended to be more bestial, Devil's were more humanoid in looks and natures, they also tended to try to subjugate Demon kind such as the Biju and Dire Beasts aka Summons. Hence...Demons and Devils did not get along.

"Silence you nine tailed freak!" Mizuki snarled. "Finally after nearly five years I can have my revenge! You will die DEMON!" He roared out the last part.

Naruto shot the enraged man a rather deadpanned look. "Says the baka that sold his soul to a devil." Naruto let out a yawn. "Seriously though, it's the same old song and dance everywhere I go...you shall die demon or kill the demon brat...c'mon...can't you morons think of something more original than that after all this time?"

Mizuki's clawed hands twitched as he snarled. "How dare you, demon, it is because of you that my life has been RUINED! It's all YOUR FAULT!!!"

Naruto snorted. "Cry me a fucking river, you betrayed Konoha, you screwed up and I kicked your ass...ready for round two yet dip shit or do I have to start things off?"

"They must be big..." One of the sound ninja said in the back ground.

"Huh...what?" His partner said.

"The size of that guys brass balls, who'd be stupid enough to challenge Mizuki-dono?" The ninja shuddered.

Mizuki let out a roar and flung two large Fuma Shuriken at Naruto. Naruto dodged them easily but the scent of the Demon's Bane on it was strong. If he were to get hit with one of these weapons there was a good chance he might die from the poison...he'd have to hope his human side would be enough to protect him.

_"Dammit...maybe I shouldn't have screwed around with the bastard and just killed him instead." _Naruto grumbled silently as the group of Sound ninja surrounded him each armed with various weapons...all covered with the deadly poison.

"Mizuki-sama...remember we must bring Uzumaki back alive, Sasuke-sama wishes to deliver the final blow and obtain his Magenkyo." One of the Sound ninja near Mizuki said.

_"Why am I not surprised...I wonder is Sasuke-teme, even realizes that the only reason Itachi left him alive and screwed with his mind so much was so that he could steal his Magenkyo when the time came and could gain Madara's damn immortality and perfected Sharingan...pitiful if you think about it...the sad little avenger is still nothing more than a pawn." _Naruto thought sarcastically.

Mizuki growled, grabbed the ninja's head and smashed it in his massive clawed hands. "I don't care what the little brat wants...I will have my REVENGE!"

Mizuki then hurled the corpse at Naruto who in turn cleaved it in two. With the distraction set, Mizuki gave the signal and his troops all began throwing countless shuriken and kunai laced with the deadly poison on it at Naruto.

Naruto grunted in pain as he felt numerous kunai and shuriken embed themselves into his flesh along with the acidic burning from the Demon's Bane poison. The effect was near instant, his healing factor slowed to a near halt, his demon chakra flow weakened and he could feel his body getting weaker. He had been hit by a lethal dose but it seemed that his human genetics were slowing the affects...but not stopping them. His only hope was to finish this quickly and get the hell back to Tsunade and hope she can purge the toxin.

"Does it hurt demon brat?" Mizuki taunted.

"I've had worse." Naruto admitted. "But not enough to save your sorry asses..." Naruto let a feral grin cross his features.

_"I've got to end this quick and without using too much of my demonic powers or I'll just speed up the toxin." _Naruto thought as he shot towards a random Sound ninja and cleaved him in two, three others behind him also fell in severed pieces from the force of the strike.

"C'mon guys, this in no time to fall to pieces on me, really takes the fun out of it." Naruto taunted.

The remaining eight ninja, except Mizuki, lunged at Naruto at the same time. Naruto let out a growl and spun with his blades out catching all of his attackers, though one did manage to impale Naruto's lower torso with a Wakizashi. Blood and body parts flew in all directions as Naruto dropped back into his stance to face Mizuki, a lone head rolling over to rest at his foes feet...Mizuki stomped on it making it splatter across the ground.

Sweat was beading on Naruto's forehead and his breathing was slightly labored due to the poison. He silently cursed himself for not being more observant...had he really been paying attention with all his senses the ambush would have failed. Who ever made up the bull about Half-Demon's being all powerful and omni-potent needed to have a kunai enhanced explosive tag shoved up their ass. Hanyou are powerful and extremely difficult to kill unless you know what to do...using a poison like Demon's Bane or venom from a creature like a Manticore could be deadly to even Kyuubi. Thankfully both were rare...it was just his damn luck that a psycho like Mizuki happened to get some of the crap.

Mizuki let out another enraged roar and flung several more Fuma Shuriken at Naruto. Naruto dodged two and smacked the other aside with his sword before darting at Mizuki.

Mizuki now lost to his madness as the cursed seal has taken out what little humanity he had left, blindly lunged at Naruto and began slashing with his claws recklessly. Naruto cursed, the damned cursed seal made the teme much faster and stronger...and he was at a bit of a handicap at the moment.

Naruto did manage to dodge most of the blows though he did get raked diagonally across the face once and his chest got cut up pretty good in the process. Mizuki however lost his left clawed hand due to a deft swipe of Ivory. Mizuki let out a howl of pain and grabbed the bleeding stub, Naruto didn't hesitate. Ebony raised up and came down in a fast arc while Ivory's blade came from the other side. The strike ended with Naruto's arms crossing in front of him as Mizuki's corpse fell at his feet in three separate hunks of flesh and blood.

Thankfully during the fight several of the kunai and shuriken had fallen out, he opted to leave the sword in him to help stem the bleeding until he could get the toxin out of him. With another swipe of his sword he severed Mizuki's head and quickly placed it in an ANBU sealing scroll meant for such occasions, he'd collect the bounty later.

"D-damn...Konoha is about thirty miles from here. If I try...to element-port I'll speed up the damn poison...but if I run...I...might be able to make it in about two hours...damn Mizuki-teme..." Naruto grunted and took off in a dead run towards Konoha.

As skilled as he was, not even he could get out of every fight without a scratch...to think otherwise would be utter foolishness. It was true that he could defeat Jiraiya and that he was better than most Jounin in Konoha but even Jiraiya could still knock him around a bit. Hell the only reason he did so well on the test they gave him was due to Kakashi, Gai and Kurenai severely underestimating him.

* * *

Two and a half hours later...

Naruto walked through the gates, not even bothering to stop to talk to the guards...who shot him concerned looks. His body was a mass of pain at the moment, the burning from the poison was steadily climbing, his healing factor had shut down completely and wouldn't restart until the poison was purged, he was leaving a small trail of blood as he walked and his strength was beginning to fail him.

Granted the ambush had caught him slightly off guard but that still hadn't been any excuse for taking the damage he did...poison or not. Simple truth was he had made a slight lapse in judgment and it had cost him...next time they wouldn't be so damn lucky.

Naruto silently cursed, while he had discovered that the poison wouldn't kill him because he was still part human it did weaken him substantially. Thankfully the damnable herb was so rare that it was likely that they had used up most if not all of the poison made from it in the ambush.

Ignoring the pain and glad once again for his unusual high tolerance for it...one of the few useful things gained from the damn villagers, he turned and walked the short distance to the hospital.

As luck would have it...depending on how you looked at the situation...Sakura, Ino and Hinata were all working at the hospital that day. Though Ino and Hinata were there mainly for lessons, Sakura worked there part time as an intern with Shizune as her boss.

It was a pretty slow day for the girls all things considered. Hinata and Ino had just finished learning the Mystical Palm jutsu from Shizune and Sakura was on break so the three decided to take a rest in the front lobby and drink some tea. Of coarse the subject of their girl talk was a certain blonde haired Namikaze. So imagine their horror when he walked through the doors with a Wakizashi jutting out of his gut, several kunai and shuriken still stuck in him and a small trail of blood droplets following him...not to mention the four scratches going diagonally across his face.

"N-Naruto!?!" Ino yelped. "What the hell happened to you!?"

Hinata and Sakura whirled around, their eyes widening in shock, Hinata had to stifle a scream and Sakura looked like she wanted to cry...she was always rather emotional.

Naruto grunted. "Sound ambush...Mizuki-teme, must have joined them after he escaped...he had a level two cursed seal. Their weapons were laced with a deadly poison...it's halted my healing powers so...could one of you get Tsunade or do you know the Purging jutsu Sakura?" He asked.

Sakura just nodded and then snapped to, this was no time to let her emotions get the better of her. Ino and Hinata rushed out of the room and came back a few seconds later with a stretcher bed, wheeling it over to him.

"Thanks." Naruto grunted and sat down on the bed as he began removing the kunai and shuriken.

He nearly fell over when the girls began rushing him back to the ER. Shizune saw what was going on, blanched and followed hastily behind them.

Once in the ER, Ino and Hinata began removing the kunai and shuriken that were out of Naruto's reach. Sakura began cleaning his wounds and Shizune began running a diagnostic jutsu and winced.

"You've received what should be a lethal dose of Demon's Bane and some deadly nightshade poison...if you had been a full blooded demon...you'd be dead. I doubt even Kyuubi could of lived from a dose that concentrated, thankfully you're only half." Shizune said worriedly.

Naruto shot her a slight glare. "Don't you think you should be more quiet in mixed company?" He said a bit annoyed...so much for secrets.

"Naruto...we already know." Ino said from behind him.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he stiffened. "When and how?" He asked...not angrily but stern and slightly confused.

Sakura looked him in the eye and touched the sword in his stomach, he gave a curt nod and she pulled it out with a gout of blood, the only indication of pain on his face was a twitch of his eyebrows and lips.

Sakura then sighed as she began cleaning the wound. "We've known since the first night you got back...we were worried about you so we thought we'd come to talk to you...well...I did and the other girls followed me. Anyways...when we saw you talking to Kakashi...in your...err...other form we decided to listen and not interrupt. I...I'm sorry if your mad...but we didn't mean any harm...we just want to help." She said.

Naruto let out a sigh. "Don't worry about it. I had planned on telling you all sooner or later anyways. It's not like I could really keep it a secret for too long anyways."

Shizune began going through several hand seals stopping on the boar seal. "Medical Arts - Purification Purge Jutsu." She said causing her hands to be covered in a dark green light. "Now hold still, Naruto-kun, this will take a bit of time. Ino, Hinata and Sakura...could you three tend to his other wounds with Mystical Palm?"

The three girls answered in the affirmative and began going to work as Naruto shucked off his destroyed trench coat...thankfully he had several others just like it. Naruto could feel the poison slowly get purged from his system. His healing factor began to kick back in after about ten minutes and went to work flushing the deadly nightshade poison from his system.

Shizune found it a bit difficult to flush out the Demon's Bane since it wasn't a poison to humans, to them it was a harmless herb, to someone like Naruto it worked like some of the special poisons developed by ninja to stop chakra usage and other abilities. It would weaken him and as time passed, if left unchecked or uncured it could kill him...slowly.

"Sakura, give me a hand in purging this poison...there is more in his system then I thought." Shizune said concentrating.

Sakura nodded and performed the necessary jutsu. Hinata and Ino finished healing the wounds on his back and eased him to lie down. Naruto closed his eyes while the two girls ran the healing jutsu over his face to heal the cuts there while Shizune and Sakura worked on purging the toxins. It was a bit lucky that he had bled a lot of the toxin out and now that his healing factor had kicked back in they could use it to boost the purge.

Naruto fell asleep during the treatment. To Shizune's surprise some of the trace amounts of Demon's Bane left in his system had slightly altered his immune system. His healing factor, rather than completely flushing the toxin began building immunity to it. Large doses would still weaken and harm him but it was likely that they would no longer be lethal anymore considering that his healing ability finished up for them and all traces of the toxin had vanished. It was also lucky that the rest of his wounds, including the ones on his face, had healed up without leaving any noticeable scars.

Shizune gathered up the weapons that had been laced with the poison and placed them in cold storage intent on creating a antidote for Demon's Bane, she also drew four vials of Naruto's blood to help with the testing.

The three girls transported Naruto to a vacant room to rest, his system was still recovering from the toxins effects and it would take a day or so before he was back to full strength. Naruto woke as they placed him in a more comfortable bed.

"Thanks for the help, ladies." Naruto yawned a bit. "I'm a bit ashamed I got caught off guard so easily."

He was still sore and a bit tired from draining the poison but he could feel his strength and powers returning to him steadily, by morning he'd be at his peak once again. Naruto sat up from his bed and prepared to get out of it, he had to go give his report and debriefing from Tsunade.

"And just where do you think your going?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms below her chest causing her girls to raise a bit...Naruto swallowed and averted his attention elsewhere while Sakura smirked.

"I...err...need to go make my report." Naruto said turning his head only to get an eyeful of Ino...who, he just noticed, was wearing a low V-cut purple muscle shirt that also bared her midriff as well as showed a good amount of cleavage.

_"What the hell! Okay...I'll just look the other direction and...crap..."_ Naruto sweatdropped, his eyebrow ticking a bit.

Hinata to cool herself off a bit from so much blushing had removed her coat. This would have been fine normally but she was wearing a skin tight black tank top that showed off just how much she had really grown during Naruto's absence.

What Naruto didn't realize was all three of the girls...even shy Hinata...were teasing him. Though Hinata was very embarrassed there was no way in hell she was going to let the other two girls out do her...she could blush and faint into unconsciousness later.

Ino mimicked Sakura in crossing her arms causing even more cleavage to come into view as she looked Naruto in the eye.

"You can make your report later after you have rested up, that toxin took a lot out of you." She said in a professional manner while leaning forward a bit and giving Naruto a better view.

_"How the hell did I suddenly get into this mess???" _Naruto wondered. "I'm fine...honest."

"N-no, Naruto-kun, you need some rest." Hinata said shyly.

"Besides...I think you owe me or us and explanation." Sakura said tapping her foot and putting on a stern look. "Why didn't you tell me...err...us about the Kyuubi? We're your friends and we know you're not some kind of evil demon or something."

Naruto sighed and shifted into his Hanyou form. It was more comfortable to actually let his tails and ears out since if kept hidden for too long the tail began to cramp and the ears began to ache. His fangs grew longer, hands became clawed, round pupils became slit and his whisker marks turned darker and wider as his six tails swayed lazily behind him...his fox-like ears twitched when Hinata let out a quiet giggle...what the hell was that about?

"And you mean to tell me that this doesn't freak any of you out?" Naruto asked his eyebrow arched in disbelief.

"Well it is a bit weird." Sakura said tilting her head slightly. "But I have to admit...the look suits you."

Ino smirked and eyed him up with a rather smoldering gaze causing Naruto to squirm slightly...she was looking at him like he used to look at ramen...it was freaking him out.

"I have to admit...the whole feral thing is kinda sexy." Ino winked.

"I-I think...i-it's cute." Hinata said shyly.

_"What the hell is going on here!? They are supposed to be terrified of me...not looking like they want to eat me alive...well...Ino looks like that. This makes no damn sense...none what so ever!" _Naruto's mind screamed at him.

"Don't you ladies understand what I am? I'm no longer human...or at least not completely. Because of the seal, assimilating the fox-teme's power and his chakra I became half demon...a Hanyou. The bastard is still sealed in me but that's only until I finished absorbing his powers and abilities, hell I can even take on the form of a six tailed fox! How the hell are you three not terrified of me, I'm going to be the next Kyuubi!" Naruto ranted in confusion.

Sakura shook her head. "Do you plan on destroying the village then?" She asked.

"What!? Not a chance in hell!" Naruto exclaimed losing some of his composure. Where the hell did that come from!?

"Naruto...we know all of what you and Kakashi talked about. We even talked to Tsunade-sama, she and Jiraiya-sama explained many things to us...you horrible childhood, the hatred you have to deal with and the responsibility of the power you now have." Ino said being serious for once.

"W-we don't hate you, N-Naruto-kun, we...just want t-to help you...and...umm..." Hinata trailed off blushing deeper.

"We want to show you that we care. Ino and I weren't the best of people to you when you were younger and kami knows I was a terrible friend and teammate but like you, we grew up. We won't judge you just because you're different. Gaara is just like you and he's the Kazekage now, and look how he used to be before he met you. If he deserves a second chance and happiness then you deserve it that much more." Sakura said with a small smile.

Now Naruto had grown much smarter over the years and for the most part could control his emotions quite well unless under heavy stress. But right now his mind was riddled with confusion. He had been sure that the girls...Ino and Sakura especially, would freak out once they learned the truth. His confusion was quite obvious due to the fact it shown in his eyes.

"They are right you know." Tsunade said walking into the room with Shizune.

"I...don't understand." Naruto frowned. "If the villagers had see..."

Tsunade interrupted him. "We are not those small minded fools. Even they do not have the right to act as they do since I know for a fact that you have never given them reason to." She let out a sigh. "Don't you think it's time you let go of the past? I was able to let go of my past pains because of you...why can't you do the same for yourself?"

"That's easier said than done, I have to relive those moments each night when I am asleep...the mobs trying to kill me, the assassination attempts, the beatings...it never ends. Then to top it off the bastard fox as a last measure of revenge makes me dream about the night it attacked with me in its place." Naruto closed his eyes. "The scary part is...sometimes I enjoy being the fox...I enjoy the destruction and the taste of blood...hearing the screams sometimes even gives me a thrill...it disgusting." He spat out the last part with a scowl.

"But you would never do any of those things." Shizune protested.

"No...I wouldn't." Naruto sighed. "I know it's just the fur-balls last ditch effort to try and corrupt me, to be honest its more annoying now than anything. It's why I don't fear Genjutsu when cast on me...they don't really compare to those dreams or memories."

"Is there a reason you came here, Mom?" Naruto asked pushing his earlier confusion to the back of his mind.

"Yes, I wanted to check up on you and see if you were being nice to the girls and not trying to push them away with your insecurities." Tsunade smirked.

_"Crap...busted."_ Naruto groaned mentally. "Okay...I get it. Not like I enjoy the whole angsty bit anyways." A few things then clicked into placed and Naruto shot Tsunade a rather deadpanned look. "You are trying to set me up...aren't you?"

"And if I am?" She asked.

Naruto sweatdropped. "Does this have to do with my clan scroll?"

"Well it looks like you really did get smarter." Tsunade quipped. "Why complain, the girls like you and it's not like your being told to marry them or anything, I just want you to give them a chance."

"All three of them? Are you going senile? Sakura is in love with Sasuke-teme..."

_**CLUNK!!! **_Naruto was cut off by a metal bed pan to the face from Tsunade.

"I'm not senile and you forgot about Tenten and Temari, they seem to like you as well." Tsunade said crossing her arms.

"But..."

"She's right, Naruto, we aren't asking for anything big right now...just get to know us." Ino said with a grin.

"B-but..."

"I...I would like t-to be, Naruto-kun's, girlfriend." Hinata said shyly.

"...!?" "But..."

"No buts, Naruto-kun, did you honestly think I wouldn't have gotten over Sasuke after all this time?" Sakura added.

"Just give it a shot, get to know them, go on a few dates or something. They can help you get over your past, we all can, but you need to let us in." Shizune stated.

"Besides...you've been brooding for nearly two weeks now and brooding doesn't suit you, I was beginning to think you were going to turn into a Uchiha." Tsunade jabbed. _"That should do the trick."_

"I haven't been that bad..." Naruto trailed off at the three glares leveled at him from Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura. "...okay...maybe I have. Sorry...I've just had a lot on my mind. I'll stop brooding so much and mellow out a bit." Naruto then looked at the three girls.

"Now for your three...I am very flattered and in Sakura-chan's case surprised, but I will need time to adjust to this and think it over. I would suggest you ladies do the same, don't let your hormones make decisions for you or make a hasty choice. You also need to consider your families, I'm pretty sure they won't like the idea that their little girls have suddenly gotten a crush on the village half-demon, they will probably think I did something to you. Just think on it for a while...I will do the same, but until then...lets just be friends." Naruto said.

The three were a bit disappointed but nodded.

"When can I leave, Tsunade?" Naruto asked.

"In the morning once you're back to full strength, otherwise I want you to rest...and no arguments." She answered.

"Alright, alright...I'll take it easy." Naruto grumbled. "I hate hospitals..."

* * *

_"Demon spawn!"_

_"Die! Suffer as we have, Fox Brat!"_

_**"Destroy! Kill them...DESTROY THEM ALL!!!"**_

_"No..."_

_**"Feast upon their flesh, drink of their blood...savor the marrow of their bones! Bring about beautiful destruction! Kill, Kill, KILL!!!"**_

_"Gut the little bastard before we get caught!"_

_"Stop!"_

_**"Total annihilation...is but one broken will away...you will complete what I once started...hahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"**_

Naruto's eyes shot open, a thin sheen of sweat covered his form, his breathing slightly labored. It was that dream again...the dream where he loses control and becomes a Black Kyuubi. He could feel his muscles stiffen and relax as he calmed himself, the early morning sunlight filtering in through the window.

_"Dammit...when will I be free of these damn dreams, they are really beginning to get on my nerves. To think the baka fox still thinks it can break my will, oh well...in a few more years he will cease to exist and I will finally be able to wash my claws of the bastard."_ Naruto thought.

Naruto then felt a slight stirring on his stomach. _"Huh...what's that?"_

Looking down he saw a mop of bubble gum pink hair resting on his stomach. Glancing over a bit he noticed that Sakura was half sitting on a chair, her upper half resting on him and her hand holding his own. He let out a small sigh, he must have been making noises in his sleep again, Jiraiya said he sometimes made noises during some of his worse nightmares. She must have heard him and tried to offer some comfort.

A small smile crossed his lips. Four years ago he would have sold his soul to be in this position, even now he wasn't about to complain but it was an odd feeling. He really didn't know what to make of the girls knowing his secret or the fact that not only Tsunade wanted him to date them but they seemed to want to try it out too.

It's not like he was against the idea, only a damn fool would turn down a group of beautiful women and a fool he was not. It kind of weirded him out that none of them seemed to care that he was supposed to practice polygamy...perhaps women just looked at things differently. Though he would have thought, given their strong personalities, that they would not be so willing to even consider the thought of sharing...once again it must be how they perceived the situation.

Though one thing was for sure, if he did agree to this, things would be taken slowly. He, himself, had to get used to the idea and, if he was honest with himself, he needed to learn how to open up more. He was aware that he always tried to shoulder all the burdens by himself, he had been since he was a child and was fairly used to it. But he recalled something Jiraiya had told him his father had once said. Even a Hero needs heroes of their own or the fires in their heart will flicker and burn out...and without that fire...love will fade with it and then all that remains is emptiness.

Jiraiya had also told him once that it was his love that was the source of his power and strength. Naruto had been confused at that since, while he had loved others, he had never really felt love. Could such an emotion truly boost his power like the old pervert had suggested? Was that emotion truly the reason he could become so strong? It never really crossed his mind that when the ones he loved were in danger and his body was broken and his power nearly gone...that was when he somehow could rise up, more powerful than ever before. He did it against Shukaku, Kabuto and even Kyuubi when it tried to control him to harm his precious people.

Naruto was powerful, that was certain. But within him lay a great potential fueled by an emotion...if he were to ever discover and harness that potential then he would gain power that could even surpass the gods. All it would need is a trigger.

Pushing back his jumbled thoughts, Naruto, raised a clawed hand and gently pushed back a few pink locks from Sakura's face. He wasn't sure just why, but watching her like this seemed to ease his mind and give him a sense of inner peace.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, she had woken from a pleasant dream about her and a certain blonde fox-boy and a gentle touch. She looked up and blushed. Naruto was looking at her with the most kind and gentle look she had ever seen on his features. His lips were slightly turned up in a smile, his eyes, though still piercing, seemed to radiate warmth and gentleness...they were even giving off a faint glow.

She had come in to check on him last night and had found him in the middle of a nightmare. She had tried to wake him up but she couldn't. He was whimpering slightly and occasionally letting out growls. He had been so tense and his body beaded with sweat. She felt so bad for him so she tried to comfort him as best she could...when she grabbed his hand he seemed to calm a little. Eventually she must have fallen asleep.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." Naruto said his voice a bit softer than usual.

"Morning, Naruto-kun." She replied a bit shyly and sat up with a small yawn. "Are you feeling better now?"

Naruto nodded and frowned slightly...the sudden loss of warmth suddenly bothered him. And she was still using the "Kun" suffix…that was going to take some getting used to.

"I'm back to full strength, thanks to you and the others. Thank you for the help." Naruto said with a slight bow to show his gratitude.

Sakura smiled. "No problem, I'm just glad we could help."

Naruto sat up and stretched a bit, his six tails stretching out behind him as he worked the kinks out of his bones. Sakura enjoyed the little show as he flexed his muscles and twitched his ears in a cute fox-like manner. How he managed to pull off sexy and cute at the same time she didn't know but she wasn't about to complain a bit.

"Tenten and Temari stopped by last night while you were asleep and brought you some fresh clothes." Sakura said as Naruto stood. She blushed a bit...he was only in a pair of black boxers. "Why don't you go ahead and get cleaned up, I'll go get you some breakfast...anything you want in particular?" She asked.

"Some tea, a bowl of rice and a apple sounds nice if that's not to much of a hassle." Naruto responded.

"None at all...you go ahead and shower, I'll be back in about ten minutes." She said her cheeks still twinged pink and hurried out the door.

"Wonder what's got her so worked up?" Naruto wondered and looked down. "Oh...I see."

He was in nothing but his boxers, thankfully not suffering from morning wood, but the boxers were a bit on the snug side so they did nothing to hide the sizeable lump in front. It wasn't his fault that he was built a bit above average, for all he knew it ran in the family. Slightly embarrassed he quickly dismissed his Hanyou form and went to shower, he'd apologize to Sakura later.

What he didn't know was that said pink haired medic ninja was on the other side of the door hastily stuffing some tissue up her nose to stem off the nose bleed she had gotten. Once that was under control she scurried off to get them both some breakfast.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	5. Rescue Mission Kazekage captured

Chapter 5 : Rescue Mission - Kazekage captured

Naruto wiped his brow of sweat and settled back into his stance. He was currently in his favorite training spot in the woods behind the Hokage monument, a simple clearing with a small river and spring fed lake in the center of the clearing. Around the small lake were various flowers, medicinal herbs and even a few berry bushes. At one side of the lake was a large sakura tree that he liked to take naps in when he could. It was his secret place where he could come to be one with nature and relax...though he was sure that someone else would one day find this place he would protect it...it was his haven.

At the moment he was standing out in the middle of the lake going through various kata for his Mystical Beast style Kenjutsu. He had stopped because a blue bird had flown down and perched on his sword, looking at him innocently. He smiled and watched the little creature as it hopped up and down his blade. On the other side of the lake he could see a small family of deer drinking from the lake. There was even a small family of fox's here. None of the wild life in the area had ever feared Naruto and he had for years, even before he became a ninja had acted as their protector from hunters and such...this haven was as much theirs as his.

The blue bird, its curiosity satisfied, flew off to get some food near one of the berry bushes. Naruto continued to go through his kata as he manipulated the water and wind around him. Swirls, spirals and arcs of water danced about his shirtless form and blades, his six tails flailing behind him as the winds blew through his hair and fur.

Naruto's eyes began giving off a brilliant icy blue glow as he channeled more of his power creating pillars of water on the lake. He began jumping between them as he continued his kata. He was determined to make sure that no more accidents like the one he had with Mizuki would happen again. He had been careless and hadn't even tapped into a quarter of his power or skill. Though that was partially due to the power draining anti-demon poison he had been inflicted with but the point was that he was more than skilled enough that it shouldn't have happened...he had been berating himself for nearly a week now.

Of coarse just because Naruto thought he was alone didn't mean he really was. The show was being enjoyed by quite a few people. Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, Ino and Kakashi were watching from the Hokage's office via the viewing crystal. Hinata, who had perfected stalking Naruto to an art, was also watching from the tree line along with Tenten, both in different positions and using a much better form of concealment jutsu. Temari had returned to Suna several days ago for her tri-monthly reports.

With an expert twirl, Naruto, sheathed his twin swords and then began going through Taijutsu kata. Further channeling his control of water and wind he turned the pillars of water into a large sphere and used the wind to hold it in place. He then trained his ability to fight under water and use his affinity to breathe the water. He then tied on a blindfold intent on training his blind fighting.

Finishing his Taijutsu kata his body began glowing bright blue as the massive sphere of water was broken apart and turned into countless small orbs of water all circling around Naruto. The orbs then shot at him as if to attack. Naruto's form blurred as he used his inhuman speed to attack or block the orbs of water.

The people watching were stunned to see such a show of not only skill but raw power. Naruto was hitting and blocking each orb of water that came at him using both his arms and his six tails. The truly frightening part was that he wasn't even tapping into his demonic powers...it was all his human powers.

As the last sphere of water flew at Naruto he held his hand out to halt it. He gestured with his hand and grabbed it as it writhed and took the form of a double edged long sword and froze into ice. He then melted it back into water and began experimenting with shapes, shuriken, kunai, swords, a spear, a club and finally...oddest of all...a rose. He turned the ice into a rose and then charged it with chakra causing it to gain a prism like glow to it. Naruto then dismissed the ice rose and let it turn back into water.

His ears twitched slightly and a smell drifted through the air, he could smell Clover Oil, Metal, Medicinal Herbs, Lavender and Cinnamon rolls. He mentally chuckled...it seems as if Tenten was trying to follow Hinata's example in her favorite pastime of Naruto-kun stalking. He didn't really mind, he knew the Hyuga heiress meant no harm and was very fond of him, if he was honest with himself he'd admit that he was flattered. Tenten hadn't really surprised him much either considering she made it a habit to watch him train his Kenjutsu whenever possible. Besides...it's not like he was trying to hide anything anymore so he'd let them have their fun for now while he worked out his own problems.

Sakura and Ino had gone through great lengths to be nicer to him now and he could tell it was genuine; you can't fool a fox...at least not for a prolonged period of time. He still had some rather deep trust issues with both though, they had treated him like shit when he was younger...well not quite so bad towards the end just before Sasuke betrayed them and he left to train. But many previous years of abuse and insults just didn't go away...even if it was the stupidity of children. He didn't hate either one of them, not by a long shot. He had always had some sort of feelings for Sakura...though not as strong as they used to be and he did find Ino to be both very attractive and amusing to be around, when she wasn't tearing into Shikamaru for being lazy or Kiba for being a pervert.

Tenten and Temari were a lot alike. Tenten was a bit of a tomboy and Temari was the rough and tough Kunoichi, though both had their softer sides. It seemed both had an odd need for physical contact, such as cuddling or holding hands...perhaps it was to offset their otherwise strong personalities. Both girls also had explosive tempers as well with Tenten's favorite thing to do being turning the source of her ire into a living target for various sharp and pointy objects. Temari...would either blast away with wind jutsu or wield her battle fan like a war mace. Thankfully he hadn't been on the receiving end of any of the girl's ire thus far.

Hinata was the pretty much the same she used to be. Still quiet, shy and has a habit of either doing cute things with her fingers or fainting when under too much mental stress. She still blushed a lot and more than once Naruto had caught her getting a nose bleed...it's always the quiet ones. Her Jyuuken skills had vastly improved and her medical skills were nearly on par with Sakura's thanks to Hinata's perfected chakra control and Byakugan. Naruto remembered how he used to think she was weird and a bit creepy...he didn't think so anymore. Like the others she had grown into a very beautiful young woman.

As Naruto approached the shore, his training done for now, he felt Tenten's and Hinata's presences leave. Shrugging it off he wiped some sweat off with a wet towel and began re-applying his bandages that covered his seal. His scarf and trench coat sitting only a few feet away. Just as he finished wrapping his lower torso a small messenger slug appeared in front of him in a puff of smoke, put down a scroll and vanished.

Naruto picked up the small scroll; it was from Tsunade, requesting his presence in her office ASAP. Hiding his tails and fox ears quickly, he picked up his coat and scarf, placing them on hastily before bounding into the tree line in a dead run towards the Hokage tower.

* * *

All conversation in the Hokage's office came to a halt as Naruto burst through the doors. The people within the room consisted of Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Ton-ton, who was sleeping in the corner. The group turned to look at the Namikaze heir and he could tell by the grim looks on the two Sannin that this was not a mere social call.

"You called, Tsunade-sama?" Naruto asked in full mission mode.

The blonde female Hokage sighed and took a swig of sake. "Yes...there have been some developments that have come about."

Jiraiya stepped up. "First...Sasuke Uchiha attacked Orochimaru three days ago and seemingly killed him but not before Orochimaru was able to perform the body switch jutsu. Part of him is now in Uchiha and the rest is recovering with Kabuto Yakushi. Uchiha seems to have control of Orochimaru's personality...for now...but he is being hailed as a hero by various members of the council...mostly civilian and those against you. He has fled Oto with three of Orochimaru's best...Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu. They and a large number of other Oto-nin are loyal to the Uchiha...also he has put a bounty out on you, Naruto, he wants you to be brought in alive so that he can kill you and obtain his Magenkyo Sharingan, he will likely be seeking you out along with Itachi."

Sakura and Ino looked horrified, the boy they had once had a crush on wanted to murder his best friend just to gain more power! It was bad enough that he became a traitor but now this? Tenten and Hinata also looked upset but they were more angry than anything...Naruto was just...impassive.

"I suspected as much." Naruto replied. "The only reason, Itachi, left the little bastard alive was and warped his mind was so that he would gain the Magenkyo and then Itachi could harvest them and gain the immortality and true powers gained from taking a siblings Magenkyo Sharingan...just like Madara did. That was the precise reason, Orochimaru, wanted Sasuke-teme. With him he could gain the immortality he desires so much." Naruto sighs and shakes his head. "In the end...you have to pity Sasuke...he is and has always been nothing but a pawn, his quest destroying his own soul and making it easier for those desiring his power to use him."

"Is...that really true, Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura asked looking a bit ill, sure she wasn't in love with the boy anymore but she still did want him back as a friend.

"I'm afraid so, Sakura." Tsunade answered. "Madara, the founder of the Uchiha clan gained great power and immortality but at a nasty price. You see...in order to gain the Magenkyo level of Sharingan you must murder your best friend in cold blood, no matter how cold hearted you are there will always be a twinge of guilt over the death you caused...this awakens the ultimate form of the Sharingan. The other price of this is a disease that comes with the power; it slowly eats away at the eyes and chakra centers within the eyes causing the holder of the Magenkyo to eventually go completely blind."

"However if you have a sibling who also has a Magenkyo level Sharingan and you steal that siblings eyes to replace your own it not only stops the disease completely but it grants a horrible level of tainted power and immortality to the one who did this. Madara was the first to discover it and we believe that he trained Itachi so that he could join him. Sasuke also knows of this and is seeking to take his brothers eyes since Itachi has not experienced any problems from the Magenkyo disease yet. But he can't gain this power until he has his own Magenkyo...that is why Naruto is his other target." Tsunade explained.

"Does this have something to do with that cursed seal thing that Orochimaru put on him four years ago?" Ino asked.

"Not completely." Jiraiya said. "The cursed seal of heaven uses an odd combination of tainted devil chakra and cells extracted from one of Orochimaru's experiments, it does eventually corrupt the mind but only with the persons own dark emotions and thoughts...it doesn't create what is already there. The cells cause corruption but only take hold if the person is liable to be corrupt in the first place. The seal cannot make the inflicted person do anything other than what they would already be slightly inclined to do...it removes their inhibitions on their darker personality aspects so to speak. When that happens the evil chakra the seal draws power from further taints the person and alters them on a genetic level...it makes them into a type of Hanyou like Naruto, but by using a power and being far more evil and tainted than even Kyuubi was."

"Devils…" Naruto said. "Devil kind is the foulest and most evil of entities out there, literately evil incarnate. Even the lowest level of devil is on par with a four tailed demon. The difference between the two is that Demon's are initially beasts of various tails...some are smart and others are completely primal. Some of the tailed beasts even act as protectors of certain areas, Gobi the five tailed Wolf is a master of elements and illusions and acts as a guardian of forests and mountains. Nibi the Nekomanta...the two tailed Cat is another that isn't evil, she is a master of Hell Fire and Necromancy...she is one of the smartest of the Biju and an acquaintance of mine as is her former container who with mine and Jiraiya's help merged with the girl she was sealed in to become a Hanyou, yet retain both personalities so she could lend aid when needed."

"Devil's though work on a different level though. Demons usually represent elements and animals...occasionally one can take on a semi-human form. A Devil though is a humanoid creature of evil in its purest forms. They have elemental capabilities like demons do but they represent Sins and Dark Emotions such as Rage, Hate and Envy. They thrive and live off of the suffering and anguish of other beings...demons included. It gives them a great boost in power; they also have an insatiable taste for blood and flesh...especially that of human virgins. The most powerful is some sort of dark god known as the Lord of Anarchy and Destruction...no one knows what its name is though. The ones you really have to be careful of are the Sin Lords, they are very powerful, easily matching Kyuubi and usually are backed by armies of lesser devils, enslaved demons and Nightbreeds like Ghouls, Vampires, Zombies and the like." Naruto explained.

"Have you ever fought one of those Devil things?" Tenten asked.

Naruto nodded. "Once, a Famine Devil, it was causing mass destruction of crops in far Wheat Country. It's favorite thing to do was suck the life force from anything it came in contact with...damn thing nearly killed me the first time I fought it. If I hadn't awakened my sixth tail fighting it...I probably would have died."

The others in the room winced; no one liked the idea of something powerful enough that could kill someone as powerful as Naruto. Jiraiya remembered that fight all to well...it was when Naruto discovered the secrets behind the two swords his father left for him. It was also during that time that Jiraiya saw another power slowly beginning to awaken within Naruto...one that was still locked away. It was beyond any power he had ever seen but for some reason, Naruto, couldn't unlock it...an Elder Sage they had visited in their travels had told him that Naruto couldn't unlock the power without first obtaining the key which he called the sacred element. It still gave the old pervert a headache trying to figure out the ancient Sage's true meaning.

"There is something else too." Tsunade said getting everyone back to the subject. "Naruto, I have a mission for you, Kakashi and who ever else you see fit to take with you. We told you about the Uchiha first because there is a chance you might run into him on this mission. This will be your first Chunin mission and I am placing you in charge."

She paused for a moment and then continued.

"The Kazekage of Suna has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki." She said.

"Gaara!? When the hell did this happen?" Naruto asked slightly surprised. Temari had told him about Gaara becoming the new Kazekage about a week ago. Naruto had been happy for his friend since Gaara's reasons were to gain more precious people and protect them.

"Temari-san sent a messenger bird here about a half hour ago. Two members of the Akatsuki named Sassori and Dhiedra attacked Suna a few days ago just before she got there. Her brother Kankuro was badly injured in the fight. She and a healer named Chiyo requested our help to get him back...also; Itachi has been seen in the area as well. Once you get to Suna, Temari and Chiyo will guide you to where the Akatsuki have taken Gaara to extract Shukaku...it should take them about two to three days to do so." Tsunade said.

"But it'll take that long to get there! Suna is a three day journey from here, even for a Jounin!" Sakura said worriedly.

Naruto had gone silent, his eyes closed and his arms crossed as he went into deep thought. This was a problem. Asuma, Chouji and Shikamaru were out on a mission to Spring Country, solidifying trade agreements. Gai, Lee, Neji and Kiba were also out on a mission in Water Country...he wasn't sure of the details...only that they were in Kiri, the village hidden in the mists. Kurenai was out on maternity leave having discovered her pregnancy six days ago. Anko was also out due an assassination mission in Grass Country. The only people he could take were in the room with him.

"Alright..." Naruto said opening his eyes. "...I can get us all there in about a day and a half...maybe less if we don't run into problems. Kakashi-sensei will be my co-leader for this mission, if I am not around then he is in charge. I want Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata to come as well. Sakura will be our main medic, Ino our interrogator, Hinata can act as a scout and Tenten's ranged Kenjutsu skills will help. Ero-sennin, I want you to stay here and help mom keep things safe here."

Jiraiya nodded, taking pride in how quickly and efficiently Naruto was taking hold of the situation, though he really wished the teen would stop using that damned nick name. Kakashi and Tsunade were also quite impressed. The girls were just glad to be helping their crush.

"We will leave in exactly thirty minutes, gather all you will need for at two week long mission and meet me at the east gate." Naruto said to the group.

"But h-how will w-we get there so quickly, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Naruto gave her a lop sided smile. "You'll see soon enough, Hinata-chan...now let's go!" He said and flame ported out of the office.

The others looked at each other, nodded and vanished in either puffs of smoke or swirls of leaves.

"Will they be alright, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked feeling a bit worried.

The pervert for once trying to be comforting placed a hand on her shoulder.

"There isn't much out there that can actually kill, Naruto, anymore and trying to extract the Kyuubi is impossible now that Naruto is a Hanyou. The Akatsuki is strong...but it would take almost all of them to take down Naruto in a fight if he releases his full power. Many would think that being half demon is what gives him an edge...when in truth it is his half human side that gives him the edge he will need. Have faith in him, Tsunade-hime...he has grown much, not only in power but heart as well. He will protect them all and bring them back home safely." Jiraiya said confidently.

"I hope your right." Tsunade said in but a whisper.

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

Sakura, Tenten, Ino and Hinata ran up to the east gate followed by Kakashi who had appeared from a puff of smoke. They could see Naruto waiting a short ways outside of the gate; he was leaning against a tree, eyes closed and seemingly unaware of his surroundings. However, before the group could get within earshot of him he stood up to his full height and opened his eyes.

"Okay, we're here, Naruto, how do you plan on getting us to Suna so quickly?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Naruto just smiled and walked a bit of distance from them. "Like this." He said simply.

Naruto's chakra spiked harshly causing him to be surrounded by a sapphire and ruby spiral of energy. There was a sudden mass of black smoke that filled the area. A large golden furred tail with a silver tip swept out from the smoke as it began to clear. The breeze picked up and the smoke was carried off.

The group could only stare in shock. Standing before them was a six tailed demon fox, a little larger than a small house and with fur the same color as Naruto's hair. Its eyes gave off a gentle icy sapphire blue glow and held a familiar piercing nature about them. The fox looked like a six tailed version of Kyuubi, but the fur color, eye color and over all feeling around it was the complete opposite of what was expected with the nine tailed demon. There was no blood lust, killing intent or malicious feelings...just a strong feeling of safeness and security.

Naruto padded up to them a bit and then lay down, lowering his massive head to look at his friends stunned faces as his longer than usual fox ears twitched slightly as various sounds filtered into them. A slightly amused glint could be seen in his glowing blue eyes.

**"This is my full demon form, though it is not a large as I can grow." **Naruto said in a soft demonic voice.

"N-Naruto-kun...is that really you!?" Sakura asked in awe as she shyly touched his furry muzzle. Despite its stiff and spiky look the fur was soft and silky to the touch, much like some of the fine silks and satins that were imported from Kiri.

**"Yes, Sakura-chan, it's me. I'm pretty fast so I'll be carrying all of you to Suna. This was the fasted and most efficient method I could come up with."** Naruto replied secretly enjoying the pink haired girls petting of his fur.

Tenten, Ino and Hinata were each looking at him with big eyes, the word CUTE was flashing through their mind. Kakashi sweatdropped...leave it to these girls to see Naruto's full demon form as nothing more than an over grown puppy or stuff toy...though part of him was impressed with Naruto's line of thought...at his size and speed they could cover a lot of ground.

"Are you sure you can handle running for that long?" Kakashi asked.

**"Yes, I had loads of stamina before, but now it is near infinite." **Naruto answered.

The four girls flushed slightly as they thought of other...very fun...uses for such monstrous stamina. Kakashi noticed and stifled a perverted giggle.

**"Alright...ladies, Sensei...climb on."** Naruto said.

The four girls happily climbed onto Naruto, each secretly enjoying the feeling of his soft fur and pleasantly warm body. Kakashi chuckled a bit and hopped up and sat down towards the middle of his back. Each of them had the presence of mind to start using a bit of chakra to ensure that they could cling to Naruto's massive form since it was likely that traveling at high speeds they would fall off otherwise.

**"Hold on tight...here we go!" **Naruto warned and got up, turned and began bounding off in the direction of Suna.

Naruto created a small wind barrier around them so that the roaring of the wind wouldn't cut out conversation or sudden noises that they would need to hear, it also kept them from getting blown off. Kakashi and the girls marveled at how fast they were going as trees flashed by in blurs. Naruto had even bounded over a small village that was in the travel path...scaring the shit out of the commoners. Kakashi laughed when a drunk looked at his sake bottle, scowled and tossed it aside as they passed.

"This is sooo AWESOME!" Ino whooped out excitedly.

"Sure beats riding horses!" Tenten agreed.

"T-this fur is so soft." Hinata said blushing.

"If, Naruto-kun, ever gets tired of being a Shinobi he would make a great taxi service." Sakura said as she relaxed into the large foxes neck.

Ino suddenly got a lecherous grin on her features. "I wonder what the other girls in Konoha would think if we told them that we got to _ride_ Naruto-kun?" She wondered.

_"Ohh...now things just got interesting!" _Kakashi thought with a quiet perverted giggle as the other three blushed...Hinata nearly fainting in the process.

"Ino, that's...that's...so naughty!" Tenten giggled.

"True!" Ino giggled. "But I bet with his stamina he could keep all four of us entertained for quite a while...hell even Temari could join in on that and he'd probably still wear us out."

"INO!" Sakura chided while wiping some blood trickling out of her nose. Tenten and Hinata weren't doing much better as they got mental pictures...even Ino got a slight nose bleed from her own thoughts.

_**"I wonder if I should let them know that I can hear every word they say? Though I'd never pegged Ino as a pervert...and what the hell is that smell coming from them...oh...well...damn...that's unexpected...hope they brought some changes of clothes." **_Naruto silently mused with a sweatdrop.

Now, Naruto, was actually quite flattered that the girls found him so attractive, but he wanted more than the physical when it came to a relationship...that is if he actually chose to pursue one. He knew the girls were aware of his circumstances and had on several occasions held discussions about him. According to Tsunade the first two talks nearly ended in a five way brawl between the girls since none of them really wanted to share. But from the sounds of it they had worked out most of that problem. Naruto fought back the urge to sigh...why couldn't his life get easier just for once?

* * *

It had been a little over half a day since the teams departure from Konoha and Naruto's large form was still running at full tilt towards Suna, they were actually making better time than previously thought. They had already passed the half way point.

Naruto's glowing blue eyes suddenly narrowed as his danger senses triggered. There was an odd scent in the air, a mixture of clay, blood and ash from explosives. Looking up he saw a very large bird made of clay coming at them, a flock of smaller birds fanning out in front of it.

**"Shit...hold on back there, we're under attack!" **Naruto roared out and erected a dome of crimson chakra over them.

The smaller birds impacted with the shield and blew up in multiple and quite loud explosions. Naruto lay down and his passengers quickly got off of him. Naruto shifted into his Hanyou form as the large bird landed in front of them, a feminine looking man with blonde hair smirked at them, behind him was the familiar form of Itachi Uchiha.

"Art is a blast, yeah?" The man said cockily. "The name's Deidara, formerly of Iwa...now hand over that tailed beast you guys were riding on, yeah."

**"Like I'd go anywhere with you two ass goblins." **Naruto grumbled irritably, Kakashi snickered at the barb as Deidara took offense. **"Kakashi-sensei, you up for handling Weasel-teme while I handle goldilocks here?"**

"I should be able to handle him." Kakashi said confidently.

**"Good, just in case though, take Sakura, Hinata and Ino as back up...in case he tries Tsukiyomi again. Tenten, I want you to cover me from a safe distance while I handle our gender challenged friend here." **Naruto said getting an affirmative from the others.

"OI! I'm a guy dammit!" Deidara shouted indignantly. "And for that matter I thought the six tailed was a lizard, yeah."

Naruto released his shield and leveled a death glare at the two as his killing intent filled the air. Glowing blue eyes turned glowing red, his six tails flailing behind him like cobras waiting to strike.

**"I am not the six tails. I am Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki, Kitsune Hanyou and soon to be Nine tailed Lord. Sorry to burst your bubbles but the Kyuubi will soon cease to exist, I will take his place but as a Hanyou, though please do try to capture and seal me...I need the entertainment." **Naruto purred the last part sinisterly.

Deidara scowled at the blonde Hanyou as Kakashi and his group shot off after Itachi. Tenten backed off a safe distance and began preparing her throwing weapons. Another flock of clay birds shot out at Naruto, this time from all directions, each bird turning into a shuriken.

Naruto drew his blades as his body blurred, his arms going so fast that they became invisible to even a well trained eye. The sounds of loud clangs filled the air as hundreds of clay shuriken were either blocked or destroyed. Some did manage to get past Naruto's defenses though leaving him with quite a few new wounds, not that it was a worry...these weren't laced with a deadly poison so his healing factor kicked in quickly.

Naruto stopped and faced his enemy once again; He could tell that Kakashi and the others were having some trouble against Itachi. Seeing as how this was the Akatsuki and he was in a hurry...the time for play was over.

Tenten gasped as Naruto settled into a stance as a mixture of purple, red and blue chakra swirled around him in a angry torrent. This stance...she had heard of it in ancient Kenjutsu legends! It was said, that a Warrior of Legend once walked ancient earth in a time before the first great human apocalypse. He had two blades, one of pure light and the other of pure dark. His skills and power was unmatched by any mortal and many immortal beings...he was the last of the great Demon/Devil Hunters...Arashi Kazama, Master of the Mystical Beast style. But he passed on millennia ago and with him it was thought his style and blades were lost.

"Naruto-kun...just who are you really?" Tenten whispered.

Deidara blanched when Naruto glared at him, the kids killing intent was as bad, if not worse, than the Kyuubi's had been in its prime. And his eyes...those baleful, crimson glowing eyes...those eyes that now seemed to have flames burning within them. The power he was radiating...it was scorching and ripping up the ground beneath him and the damn level continued to rise.

The feminine Akatsuki member knew he stood no chance against this...this thing unless he had better help. Frantically he created a Clay Clone and prepared to do a Substitution to make his escape. He needed to get back to Sassori to help with the extraction of Shukaku. Their leader wasn't going to like this turn of events...it meant that the Kyuubi would likely be out of their reach and he had been pissed off for months about losing the Nibi to its host.

The chakra around Naruto switched to a mixture of red and white hot fire, oddly not harming him but making him look all the more fierce. A piercing trill thundered through the air as the flames began taking a form around the young Hanyou...the form of a large bird of fire.

_**"RRRAAAWWWKKKKK!!" **_

The fire bird screeched once more as Naruto crouched down and two flaming wings spread out.

**"Mystic Arts - Blazing Phoenix Rush!" **Naruto snapped followed by another thundering trill.

Naruto's form incased within the massive fire bird shot forward, scorching and tearing up the earth beneath him. Deidara cringed; the kid was to damn fast. The feminine mans form was blasted straight up into the air with Naruto's flaming form right behind him. The flaming bird containing Naruto flashed by Deidara at break neck speed and stopped fifty feet above him and hovered there.

Naruto looked down at his prey...time to finish this. **"Mystic Fire Release - Phoenix Flare Inferno!"**

Deidara's eyes widened as his eyebrows rose up into his hairline. Hanyou-Naruto had thrust his blades in a down slash motion and caused the flaming fire bird surrounding him the shoot towards him.

Below the spectacle, Tenten let out a strangled eep and got the hell out of the blast zone area, that thing was going to hit and hit very hard. At this point she was beginning to wonder, who was more deadly...her crush or the damn idiots after him?

She let out another uncharacteristic eep when, Naruto, suddenly appeared in front of her, wrapped his arms and tails around her and erected a glowing red barrier. She flushed bright pink at the feel of his muscles pressed against her body but her eyes could not be peeled from the sight before her. The massive fire bird had hit its target and struck the ground causing a minor quake.

The ground at the impact zone was ripped up, scorched and incinerated all at the same time as a small mushroom cloud rose from the crater. Deidara, burned and bruised, managed to get out of the way at the last moment using a substitution. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he flew off at high speed on the back of one of his giant clay birds, cursing Naruto the entire time.

Naruto looked down at the girl he had shielded from the blast, her hands had...be it consciously or sub-consciously, started traveling up and down his muscular torso. Tenten's eyes had glazed over as she felt, Naruto's, rippling muscles beneath her finger tips and she suddenly forgot the reason she was there as her head began to swim in a haze of emotion. Her cheeks were tinted bring pink and if, Naruto, was honest with himself...she looked very cute at the moment. Never mind the fact that her touch was causing him to flush slightly as well.

However he settled for cocking an eyebrow at her. **"Err...Tenten...you okay?"**

"Yeah...your fine...never felt better...such nice hard...EEP!" She startled as her mind suddenly registered what was going on. "N-Naruto-kun! I...I, err, you...fine...let's go h-help the others!" She stumbled out as he let go of her and idly noted a frown on her features at the loss of his touch.

Naruto frowned a bit. _**"What the hell is with all these girls falling for me all of a sudden...and that musky smell coming from them? Dammit...I don't have time for this!" **_

**"Tenten, you back up the other girls, I'm going to help Kakashi eliminate a certain Weasel-teme." **Naruto said going back into mission mode.

Tenten nodded and followed after Naruto. She wished she could have provided him more help with the girly-guy but how do you help someone that can take out an S-Class missing-nin in two hits and act like it was a warm up!?

Little did she know that Naruto had used a fair amount of Chaos Chakra in that attack and mixed with his other two chakra's he had depleted his stores by a quarter. He did have a lot of chakra to spare, more than most Kage level ninja but he wouldn't have the near limitless amounts his tenant does until the final tail was assimilated.

* * *

Sakura watched worriedly as Kakashi and Hinata took on Itachi. Ino had almost gotten in a solid hit but ended up nearly being gutted by the bastard's wakizashi. She gritted her teeth as she continued to use her Mystical Palm jutsu to heal Ino, who was letting out the occasional hiss of pain.

They had all heard and felt the explosions coming from the are that Naruto and Tenten were fighting off the gender challenged Akatsuki member. After the explosion, Sakura, had caught sight of him fleeing the area...she only hoped Naruto hadn't had too much trouble with him.

Hinata tried for a fast Jyuuken strike only to get a nasty thrust kick to her gut. She was sent back a few feet until she hit something both hard and soft...and warm. Looking up she could see Naruto, glaring murderously at Itachi, fangs bared and tails flailing angrily.

**"Are you alright, Hinata-chan?" **He asked in a soft growling tone.

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun...I am fine." She said blushing as he helped her stand straight.

Tenten ran up. "Go help, Kakashi-san, I'll keep Hinata safe." She said

Naruto nodded and shot his glare back at the elder Uchiha brother, a low, primal growl rippled up from deep in his throat causing both girls to shiver slightly.

As he began to walk forward electrical energy began crackling and surging around his right arm. He opened his hand a familiar spiraling ball of pure chakra appeared, but this time it you could see lightning arcing and surging through it as it grew to the size of a soft ball.

**"Lightning Release - Element Rasengan." **Naruto snarled as he began his charge towards Itachi.

Kakashi cringed and jumped back, the amount of chakra in Naruto's attack was equivalent to his Raikiri, only where his cuts...Naruto's drills and grinds...and thanks to the lightning...pierces.

"Foolish." Itachi muttered and went through some hand signs. "Fire Release - Phoenix Immortal Flames Jutsu."

A barrage of bird shaped fire balls spat out from Itachi's mouth and closed in on Naruto. Naruto vanished in a yellow flash before they could reach and a second later, Itachi, felt an indescribable pain sear through his chest as the Rasengan ripped through his flesh.

However, instead of falling over dead, Itachi turned into a mass of bone, blood and dust as he crumbled around Naruto's arm.

"What the hell?" Kakashi wondered.

"That wasn't, Itachi..." Naruto answered glaring at the remains, his eyes narrowed.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	6. Rescue Mission Winds of Revelation

Chapter 6 : Rescue Mission - Winds of Revelation

"What do you mean that wasn't, Itachi!?" Kakashi asked letting some of his usual indifferent facade falter.

Naruto's narrowed eyes continued to study the pile of dust and bones in front of them. A frown forming on his face as he sniffed the air, his tongue flitting out to taste the air for a moment.

"It's just as I said...that wasn't, Itachi...rather it was a rather vile form of Kinjutsu. That or rather it was known as a Dead Soldier Clone. It requires the body of a recently killed person, a good amount of chakra and the blood of the person you wish to have the clone mimic. It is a bit like Orochimaru's Cursed Earth Summoning except this doesn't revive copies of fallen people but makes an exact sub-servant duplicate of a living person with all of that person's personality, powers and abilities. The reason it has to be a recently killed person is because chakra doesn't leave the human body for twenty four hours after death and this jutsu makes it easier when you either want to have someone in two places at once or to have a very good decoy since it's an exact copy of the person cloned and more stable than a Shadow Clone. I have a variation called a Blood Clone that I can do that is similar to this but it requires a large amount of chakra and a blood sacrifice from me as well as a Shadow Clone." Naruto explained.

"But who has the kind of power to do such a horrible jutsu?" Ino asked as Sakura helped her walk over next to them.

"The Akatsuki leader, Pien, would be more than capable...or perhaps someone else just as powerful." Naruto answered and turned to look her over, the wound she had gotten was still red and tender. "Why isn't your wound fully healed yet?" He asked with a frown.

Sakura scowled. "That bastard had some sort of poison on his sword, I managed to extract it but doing so cost me most of my chakra...I was barely able to finish patching her up."

Naruto went through several hand seals and his hands began glowing a rich emerald green color.

The girls gasped in shock. "When did you learn medical jutsu?" Tenten asked.

"During my training trip, Mom, sent a few medical scrolls with me so I could learn some basics like Mystical Palm, Chakra Scalpel and the Poison Purge jutsu. I learned that if I use some of my own demonic chakra with it I can make more powerful versions, including my purification jutsu. But if something is messing with my chakra, like when I was poisoned I can't do squat...besides...I'm a field medic at best, I only know a few others like the diagnostic jutsu and pain reliever jutsu...other than that, I don't know much other than mandatory first aid." Naruto stated as he quickly finished healing Ino's wound. You could see a few beads of sweat on his brow due to intense concentration since his Chakra was more potent than a humans.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun...I..." Ino started.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto said and gave her and Sakura a soldier pill each. "Take those and we'll get on our way...that is if no one else needs medical attention?"

"I'm good." Kakashi answered.

"Same here." Tenten said.

"I am fine." Hinata said with a small smile.

Naruto nodded and leapt away from them, transforming into his Fox form in mid jump. He landed with a thunderous thud and got down so his friends could climb back on.

**"Alright, let's get going. We've little time to waste and I'm going full tilt until we reach Suna so all of you hold on tight." **Naruto's voice rumbled.

"Aren't you getting a bit tired, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked concerned.

**"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I will be just fine, it will take more than a gender challenged, mad bomber with an art obsession and a Dead Soldier Clone to slow me down. Besides, I can rest once we get to Suna if I need it." **Naruto answered raising the wind barrier once again and taking off in a high speed run.

After a short while of silence Naruto decided to speak up again.

**"I want all of you to promise me something." **He said in a suddenly stern voice.

Curious, Kakashi asked. "And what might that be?"

**"There is a good chance that by the time we get to where Gaara is being held, that Shukaku will have been extracted from him. If that is the case...I want all of you to get as far away as you can...I will handle Shukaku." **Naruto answered.

The girls didn't like where this was going.

"How do you plan on doing that, Naruto-kun?" Ino asked a bit worried.

**"I will destroy him and then transfer his power back into Gaara...if that demented Tanuki has been extracted then Gaara is as good as dead but if I use my own power to kill Shukaku and strip it of its power and place that power back into Gaara then his life can be restored." **Naruto explained.

"I'm sensing a but here." Sakura said in a stern tone.

**"If I screw up...the excess energies in the area will tear my body to shreds and vaporize me." **Naruto answered nonchalant.

Kakashi frowned. "In other words...you will be completely obliterated..."

"WHAT!?" The four girls screeched.

**"That's putting it mildly, Kakashi-sensei, a screw up of that magnitude would level everything in a hundred mile radius of the blast zone and since I would be in the central most part of it...you wouldn't even be able to find enough to take back to Konoha in a match box." **Naruto added.

"I won't let you..." Sakura said in almost a whisper, her eyes not meeting anything but Naruto's fur.

"Is there another way...something less dangerous?" Kakashi asked, he didn't want to lose another student...he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did.

"We won't let you take that kind of risk!" Ino blurted out.

"I agree...there must be some other way!" Tenten said.

"Yes...d-do you know another way?" Hinata asked.

**"No...I do not. But the chances of me screwing something like that up are slim to none. I know well the risks and even if you all wanted to stop me, you couldn't. I will not let Gaara die, he is a very good friend, besides...if Shukaku hasn't been removed from him then we have nothing to worry about, I'll just fix his seals and add a few more to destroy Shukaku and give Gaara its power."** Naruto said as they broke into the wide expanses of Wind Countries dessert.

_"Please...let that demon still be sealed in Gaara...Kami...please. I already lost one person I thought I loved, I couldn't live if I lost the person I know I love." _Sakura prayed as she looked worriedly at Naruto.

_**"Sorry...Sakura-chan...everyone...but if I have to do it, I will. I can't let those bastards take anymore of my precious people away from me. I lost a brother because he couldn't fight his own darkness...I won't lose another to a group of mad men...I will die before I let that happen."**_ Naruto thought as his massive form tore up the dunes at top speed.

* * *

Temari was walking towards the gates of Suna, she was deeply troubled. Her little brother was kidnapped by those Akatsuki bastards...and if they got Shukaku...she would lose him. She just couldn't...not now, not when they had started to become so much more closer over the past few years since he met Naruto.

To make matters even worse, her other brother was in the hospital with a horrible poison from his fight with one of their own missing ninja, Sassori. Temari let out a growl...Kankuro might be a baka sometimes but if he dies...so help her she was going to rip, Sassori apart! Her only hope was that Tsunade-sama got her message and sent some help.

"Wh-what the hell is THAT!?" Came the alarmed voice of one of the Chunin guards on top of the gates watch towers.

Concerned and more than a little worried, Temari leapt up to the Chunin to see what was wrong.

"What's going on, is it another attack?" She asked preparing herself.

"I...I'm not sure...look out there...north by north-west and you'll see what I'm talking about!" He said in a fearful voice.

Temari grabbed a telescope and brought it up to her eye and began scanning the dessert. What she saw caused her heart to skip a beat. A massive form was moving towards Suna at high speeds, a large spray of sand and a massive cloud of dust was being kicked up behind whatever it was. Making a quick adjustment to the telescope she looked back through it in hopes of getting a better view of what was coming.

What she saw shocked her. A massive golden furred fox with six tails billowing behind it was tearing through the dessert at speeds that she was sure that not even Rock Lee or Gai Maito could hope to achieve. At first she was terrified, was their village going to be attacked by a tailed beast? But upon studying the beast better she noticed that it wasn't like most of the other tailed beasts she had seen...they looked evil beyond imagination...this creature looked almost...devine in a way. It also had brilliant glowing icy sapphire blue eyes that seemed to cut through the dusk light.

As the gigantic fox drew closer to Suna, Temari was able to make out five human forms riding on its back. One of which she realized was Sakura, due to her pink hair and red colored outfit. But what in the nine levels of hell was she doing riding on a gigantic fox? Maybe, Naruto summoned it for them...it was the only thing she could think of.

"Stand down, that's the team from Konoha!" Temari shouted. "They were sent here to help us out!"

Temari was significantly impressed. Whatever that fox was, it was fast...extremely fast. She had only sent out the call for help last night! To think that they made a three day trip in the matter of one single day, it was amazing!

As the fox grew much closer to Suna, Temari signaled for the Chunin's to open the gates and let it in. About ten minutes later the massive six tailed fox shot through the gates and came to a grinding halt so it wouldn't damage any property. As it lay down Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Tenten and Kakashi got off of it. Temari could see that the large beast was slightly winded...who wouldn't be if they were running across a scorching dessert. What happened next though gave her a total shock.

There was a large puff of black smoke and when it vanished Naruto, with his tails and ears still visible, was kneeling down on one knee and catching his breath.

"Dammit...that dessert is friggin hot." He grumbled and pulled out a canteen of water and began gulping it down to replenish some moisture to his body.

Standing back up and working out a few kinks in his neck, Naruto put away his canteen and looked around him. He noticed many of the people of Suna were looking at him with something akin to awe. To his surprise there was no fear or hate though...it was nice. A little girl walked up to him...about ten years old, her eyes wide and full of innocent curiosity.

"That was really neat! Can you turn into other animals Onii-chan!?" She asked excitedly.

Temari stopped herself from walking over and with the other girls watched the scene taking place before them. Naruto looked down at the little girl, his eyes had softened considerably and a small smile graced his lips. He knelt back down so he was eye level with the child.

"No...I can only turn into a fox." He answered in a kindly tone.

"Okay...I...like your tails...they are very pretty." She said a bit shyly.

Naruto chuckled and patted the girl on the head causing her to let out a couple of giggles at the show of attention.

"Thank you...my name is Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki...what is yours little one?" He asked.

The little girl beamed. "My name is Ami Tanaka! Did you come to help Kazekage-Onii-sama?" She asked.

"Yes, I did, Gaara is a very good friend of mine, so don't worry about him. I promise to bring him back safe and sound." Naruto said, happy to see Gaara had gained many precious people to protect.

Ami smiled happily and hugged Naruto. He was a bit surprised but returned the gesture. Ami let him go, bowed to him and skipped off to talk to her friends. A soft half smile was on Naruto's face as he watched the little girl talk excitedly to her friends.

The five young ladies that had watched him each gazed at him with soft eyes. They wondered if he even knew just how good of a father he would make. That thought of course made each of them blush a bit as they thought of him and them having children of their own.

Naruto stood back up and looked over at Temari.

"How are things here? We heard that Kankuro was injured, how is he faring?" He asked.

Temari snapped too and looked a bit upset. "He's in critical condition. He has several large wounds and is suffering from a strange type of poison that negates medical jutsu; I was hoping that Sakura-san might be able to help."

"I will try my best." Sakura said. "Just show me where he is and I'll see what I can do for him."

"I'll come too; I have a jutsu that can purge any poison or impurity from a person. After I do that, Sakura-chan, can work on healing Kankuro's wounds." Naruto offered.

Temari bowed. "Thank you, he might be a dip stick, but he's still my brother."

"Let's go then!" Sakura said with a smile in hopes of lifting her friend's spirits.

Kakashi walked up. "The rest of us will help out around the village as best we can. After the two of you are done with Kankuro-san, rest up a bit and then we will figure out what to do from there."

"Good idea, Kakashi-sensei, let's go!" Naruto ordered and then followed the blonde and pink haired ladies to the hospital.

* * *

A few moments later Temari, Sakura and Naruto rushed into the ER in Suna General Hospital where Kankuro was still being treated. The Suna medic-nin were doing the best they could and had wrapped up the long gashes across his torso as well as the laceration on his right arm and the hole in his left shin. The poison he had been hit with negated any of their medical chakra so they had to resort to layman's methods to stem off bleeding and such.

Naruto and Sakura scurried about the room. Both pulling back their hair and washing their hands before going to look over the patient. Sakura ran an advanced diagnostic jutsu over him and frowned.

"What's the damage, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Her frown deepened. "It's a really strange poison...I've never seen it before in any of Tsunade-sensei's scrolls or medical books. It seems that it not only negates medical chakra but it is slowly eating away at his muscles, tendons, organs and chakra coils...it's basically destroying him on a cellular level. It's also bonding to his blood, making it impossible to bleed out the poison...even if we tried some kind of blood transfusion the poison would still take effect a short time later."

Temari got really worried. "Isn't there anything either of you can do for him?" She asked.

"If I had a fresh sample of the toxins it would be possible to make an antidote...if an antidote can be made. I haven't seen a poison this deadly since that poison catalogued in Tsunade-sensei's scrolls that are secreted from Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword." Sakura said feeling bad as she continued to try to find and pinpoint the source of the poison in hopes of isolating it.

"Hold on a second...let me try something." Naruto said.

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked.

Naruto began going through a long length off odd hand seals, some were familiar and others she had never seen before.

"I'm going to attempt to use a few special jutsu with my chaos chakra." He replied.

"Chaos Chakra??" Temari asked confused.

Naruto nodded. "It is a special fusion chakra made up of Human Chakra, Demon Chakra and Yokai...which is the equivalent of a demons Chi and Ki energies. It's a more potent form of chakra than humans use but not as dangerous as my demon chakra is." Naruto explained. _"Well...a half truth is better than an outright lie I guess. But they don't need to worry about my Chaos Chakra...even if it really is more dangerous than Demon Chakra."_

A soft royal purple glow began surrounding Naruto as he finished his hand seals.

"Light Arts - Radiant Purification Jutsu!" He said as the glow on his hands grew brighter and surrounded Kankuro.

Sweat began to bead on Naruto's forehead as he strained to keep his concentration, he had excellent Chakra Control, but not inhuman control like Sakura did and his Chaos Chakra made it all the more harder.

Sakura gasped as Kankuro's tenketsu points opened up and a sickly looking yellow liquid surrounded by purple chakra began leaking out and collecting in a small orb above his chest.

"Sakura-chan...place a bowl under the poison to catch it." Naruto said through gritted teeth.

Nodding the pink haired medic quickly placed the bowl under the chakra orb and watched as poison continued to slowly leak out of the tenketsu until nothing was left. Naruto gently let the foul fluid rest in the bowl and released his jutsu.

"There...now if it is possible to make an antidote, you can do so now." Naruto said panting slightly, using his chaos chakra was always draining when used for high level jutsu.

"Okay..." Sakura said going through hand seals. "Mystical Palm Jutsu!"

This time Kankuro's body did not reject the healing chakra she was placing into him. She was surprised however when Naruto also started using the same jutsu to help out. Even more surprising was the fact that while her healing chakra was a rich grass green color, Naruto's was a rich deep emerald color meaning it was by far more potent then even her master's. Not that she was surprised...Naruto had always been more powerful than most.

"This is my altered Mystical Palm jutsu, while you handle the healing of his wounds and the rebuilding of his skin and flesh, I'll use mine to boost his immune system, accelerate blood cell growth and fix the deteriation on his Chakra coils caused by the poison." Naruto said with a deep look of concentration.

"Right...you want me to handle fixing his tendons too?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, that would be a great help." Naruto answered.

Temari was speechless. The way the two worked together was flawless and the fact that Naruto knew some medical jutsu and could power them using his exceptionally potent chakra was no less than amazing. Sakura was also very impressed, she might know more medical jutsu and procedures that Naruto did but with some work he could surpass her easily. At one time that would have upset her...now...it kind of turned her on. The fact that he made a perfect medical assistant wasn't lost on her either.

Temari had to smile as Kankuro began coming around and his wounds began healing up. She had much to thank of these two, especially Naruto. Who would have thought that in the time he spent away that he would go from a loud mouthed, knuckleheaded little squirt to a mature, strong, powerful and handsome young man who also seemed to be a jack of many trades.

"Huh...where...what happened?" Kankuro moaned and winced in pain.

"Shit...hold on a second." Naruto said and adjusted the chakra so a slight hint of lighter green flowed through it. "There...that should help with the pain."

"Naru-Naruto?" Kankuro asked.

Naruto grinned. "Yup, my team and I came to help you guys out. As soon as Sakura-chan and I get you patched up and catch a bit of rest, we'll go and save Gaara."

Kankuro smiled a bit and nodded slightly. "Thank you...both." He said.

Sakura smiled. "Don't worry, Kankuro-san, that's what friends are for."

A few minutes later Sakura had finished with the wounds, tendons and muscles. Naruto finished up a moment later as he helped Kankuro's chakra coils restore themselves. Both Konoha ninja slumped back a bit. Sakura had used about half of her reserves; Naruto had used another quarter of his chaos chakra and nearly half his human chakra to fix Kankuro up just right.

"Phew...damn, Sakura-chan, I think I'll leave most of the medical stuff up to you from now on. I might have good control now but I'm still nowhere near as good as you are. I am impressed though...you've got a lot to be proud of." Naruto said with a smile.

Sakura flushed at his praise. "Thank you, Naruto-kun, you were a great help to me."

"I must thank you both too, thanks for healing my brother." Temari said.

Naruto waved it off. "We're all friends here, it was no big deal. Though I really need to rest up a bit and restore my reserves...that took a bit more out of me than expected." Naruto chuckled.

Kankuro sat up in the bed, he was still a little weak and he felt tingly all over. "Well, we have a bit of time. I heard Sassori talking about how it would take about three to four days to properly extract Shukaku...so that means we have at the least another day to day and a half left."

"It would probably be best if you stayed here though, I had to fix your chakra coils and they won't be in full functioning order for at least three days." Naruto said and took an offered glass of water from Temari. "Thanks."

"Dammit..." Kankuro cursed. "That bastard, Sassori, really screwed me up. I've never been outclassed in a nin-puppet match like that before."

"What do you expect; he was legendary here in Suna for his ability to make puppets out of his own enemies. His skills far surpass anyone we got here in Suna...not even Gaara could handle him and that Deidara person." Temari retorted.

Naruto stood up. "I'm going to go check on the others, take it easy for a couple of days Kankuro and you'll be back in top shape." Naruto said and walked out of the room.

As soon as he got into the empty hallway he dropped to one knee and hacked up several clots of blood. A scowl crossed his face as he forced his vision to properly focus.

_"Damn...I used way too much chakra. That Chaos Chakra is too powerful for me to handle in such large amounts without my ninth tail. But if I try to access any more tails before my body is ready for them then the Fox-teme will take control of my body again. Heh...pretty sad, all my friends think I've become some kind of invincible super ninja, but in truth the more I use Kyuubi's Chakra and Chaos Chakra...the more damage I do to my body, if I use too much at one time...I'll die. If it wasn't for my demonic healing I would be dead by now...I just need to stay alive until I absorb the ninth tail...then my body will be capable of handling all that power...because then...I will truly be a full demon."_

Now Naruto really wasn't fond of the idea that he was slowly becoming a full blooded demon or as the Elder Toad Sage that Jiraiya had taken him to see called him...a Mystical Beast. All Biju started off as Mystical Beasts a type of creature that was neither devine or demonic. All Biju had two types of Chakra, Gold and Silver Devine Chakra and Red and Black Demon Chakra. Most of the Biju, after many years and battles with others of the demonic races, lost the ability to use their devine power and fell into darkness while others did not. Nibi was one that didn't, though she rarely uses her devine powers due to only having two tails worth of power, but she retained enough to keep her mind and will free. Some, like Shukaku, went insane with their power and were lost to it...Sanbi the three tails was another who lost it and was now nothing more that a gigantic, three tailed Snapper Turtle that was more animal that intelligent being.

The Sage had said that Naruto was special...since he started off as a human and something about his unusually strong will...he would surpass the other Biju. But only if two conditions were met. He had to attain the ninth and final tail and he had to use something called the "Sacred Element" to fully unlock his power as a mystical beast. The first of which, that would ironically, have a humanoid form as its base form.

Shaking himself from his thoughts and wiping the remaining blood from his mouth, Naruto decided to worry about the old toad sage's ramblings later. Because of his Kekkei Genkai, he had a mastery of all the elements but he had never heard of or seen any kind of sacred element, in fact the closest thing he could think of was the Light Element, but that element along with Dark and Shadow were still locked away. In order for his Kekkei Genkai to gain use of those elements he had to use that damned sacred one.

Naruto sighed. "I'll figure it out eventually...better go see what Kakashi-sensei and the girls are doing." Naruto mumbled and began walking out of the hall...forgetting to clean up the blood he had spat up.

Sakura opened the door and started at the sight of the blood on the floor, there were several large splats of crimson on the floor. She glanced up to see Naruto go around the corner. A frown and a worried look crossed her features...was there something wrong with Naruto that he wasn't telling her or anyone else about?

"Naruto-kun..." She whispered worriedly.

* * *

Naruto had found Kakashi helping some Suna Jounin aiding the civilians in clean up with Tenten. Ino and Hinata were using their medical jutsu to aid any remaining injured citizens since the hospital was pretty full. Naruto went around helping where he could while just using him normal chakra. Thanks to several special soldier pills he wouldn't have to worry about his human chakra being depleted. His Chaos Chakra was slowly replenishing itself and Naruto decided that he'd just stick to using his human or demon chakra since those two were less harmful to use. No way in hell was he even going to attempt using chaos chakra again for a while since it caused more damage to him than demon chakra did, which was much less now that he was Hanyou.

He was back in his human form once again; he felt it best to hide his foxy features while helping out the citizens of Suna. The children didn't seem to be bothered by them, in fact they seemed to like it, but the adults seemed to get nervous. At least they didn't show an outright hatred of him, just a bit of uneasiness. He could live with that and he could definitely understand.

The modest repairs he, Tenten and Kakashi made to the homes close to where the battle took place were a bit rushed but they would hold good until the citizens could afford proper repairs. Naruto had wanted to use his Shadow Clones to aid in the work but he realized that he needed to conserve his chakra. He might have far more than a Kage level ninja but he wouldn't gain infinite amounts until he got his final tail, hence the need to conserve.

In some ways Suna had been lucky. Only a few casualties had been civilian and Gaara had been smart enough to lead the battle out of the village so there was also minimal damage to the village itself. Ninja casualties weren't all that high, two Genin, Six Chunin and three Jounin deaths in all. Most of which seemed to come from poisoning, though a few had been blown to pieces by Deidara's clay bombs. All things considered, it could have been much worse.

Still...even when you didn't know them, it still caused a small amount of pain to bury someone. Each of the ninja that had died, had put their lives out for the protection of their Kage and their village. To Naruto that made them more of a hero than he had ever been. To him, these people needed to be remembered for what they did in the service of their village. So, using some simple earth manipulation, Naruto erected a modest memorial stone and carved into it.

_"This stone tablet is left to honor those who held the Will of Winds. The names engraved upon this tablet are the names of Shinobi and Kunoichi that selflessly sacrificed themselves to protect what they cherished and believed in. Their memories may fade in the passing of time, but their names and deeds shall be forever set in eternal stone. May this tablet be a reminder to future generations, that to be a true hero, it is not the size of ones strength, the amount of jutsu they know or how much power they possess, but it's the size of their hearts. May the Will of Winds forever blow and remain strong."_

Naruto smiled as he finished carving the last bit with a small pointed Rasengan. Kakashi walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The mans lone eye going over the memorial stone and showing a deep sense of approval.

"Very similar to the one back home." Kakashi spoke.

"Yeah, I think Gaara will approve. And perhaps this will show the coming generations of aspiring ninja that just because they became a ninja...they are not all powerful. That the true heroes out there are the ones that sacrifice all that they are to protect their precious people and their village." Naruto replied.

Kakashi nodded. "Aye...is that why you still continue to sacrifice yourself every day? Is it your hope to become a true hero?"

Naruto shrugged. "I sacrifice, because that is what I am." Naruto said softly, not realizing that a group of people had walked up to listen to him, the girls were among them.

"When I was a child...I was foolish. I thought that if I became a Hokage then everyone would have to like me and respect me. I never once realized that such things as trust, respect and friendship had to be earned. I always went on and on about how I would be some kind of great hero and an all powerful Hokage, but I never really understood what all that entailed."

"Then I became a Genin...and I was greener than a grasshopper's ass. Still, with what limited knowledge I had I did the best I could. My first truly harsh lesson came from our mission to Wave...when we met Zabuza and Haku. It was during that time that I developed my Nindo and I realized that just because I was a Shinobi...I wasn't some kind of god or hero. I realized to most...I was nothing more than a tool, to be used and then cast aside when I was no longer needed. The demon sealed in me, made me a weapon, one that was hated."

"Still...I went on with my life...usually masked behind a mask of cheerful emotions and a facade of idiocy. I realized that all I truly wanted was to be accepted, to be acknowledged as Naruto and not the demon sealed within me. That didn't really happen, though I was able to make some wonderful friends...that alone was enough to save me from the hell of being alone and the nightmares that plagued my sleeping hours."

"It wasn't until the one person I grew to see as a brother betrayed me...betrayed us for delusions or power and grandeur, that I finally began to realize that my masks and facades caused me more harm than good and that I needed to train. It wasn't until I got one final bite in the ass that I realized just how much my life revolved around sacrifice."

Naruto had gone silent for a few moments, his eyes awash with various emotions as he looked at the engraving he had placed on the memorial stone he made. Kakashi had a frown hidden by his mask...he silently berated himself for not being a better sensei to his student. Sakura felt a sudden lump form in her stomach...she knew what was coming up next. The other girls frowned as well, Temari especially; she knew how hard the life of a Jinchuuriki could be because of Gaara.

"On that day that he left..." Naruto started. "The one girl that I had loved more than anything, approached me and begged me to return the person she loved the most...the one who betrayed us. It was at that time that I realized that for ones such as me...love was a double edged sword. Because of what we are few will ever see us as anything other than the weapon or demon that we supposedly are. I had tried all my life to get her to see me, to notice me...to at least acknowledge me...and the one time she did...it was to ask me to return the one she loved to her."

Sakura was feeling smaller and smaller by the minute, her stomach constricting painfully as the full impact of her foolishness as a child hit her.

"In the end, I couldn't bring myself to hate her...or anyone really. And she did give me something I sought, a way to make her happy...despite the fact that my heart had been broken as well. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but most lessons in life are. So, I put on my usual mask and made my promise to her, a promise to return the traitor to her safely...and to never stop until either he was returned or I was dead. A foolish and childish promise I know, but I never go back on my word...even if my words were of immature stupidity."

"As you know the mission failed but I said I'd keep that promise. I still will...it would be dishonorable to back out on it. But during my time away training I learned many things. I was forced to grow up and push myself far beyond the set limits of a normal human. I learned that I was first a Jinchuuriki...the power of human sacrifice. Then...I became a Hanyou. The honest truth of it was, I chose to become one so I could gain the power I needed to protect those precious to me and in one way...as a measure of revenge against the fox for taking my childhood from me. And once I gain the ninth and final tail...I will become a full demon. You see, Kakashi-sensei, I sacrificed my humanity...because that is who and what I am. Some of it was for noble reasons and some of it was revenge against the demon imprisoned in me. I am no hero, I am just a being that wants to do what they know is right, to atone for past sins and to use a power once feared by all...to protect those that it once threatened to harm. And as I slowly absorb Kyuubi's powers I am killing it...its soul will slowly be drained and then claimed by Shinigami when its power is mine. That is my vengeance for the loss of my parents and the loss of any chance I had at a normal childhood or life."

As Naruto speech ended he walked off leaving a stunned group of listeners. Kakashi had his head bowed as he remembered his sensei and his wife. He felt sick...at one time...Kakashi had blamed Naruto for their deaths; he had gotten over it when the third talked some sense into him. But a slight hint of resentment had always remained and that was what had caused him to believe Naruto was just a foolish child trying to act like a ninja. His foolish devotion to Obito blinded him to the mental instability of Sasuke as well and in the end...it had cost him.

Sakura felt sick, she felt ashamed and to be honest she just wanted to crawl under a rock and shrivel up right now. Sure she had gotten over her stupid fan girl bit over the years but she hadn't really though of the possible damage she had caused to those around her. Had she been so truly blind to Naruto? No...not completely, her inner persona had always berated her for her horrible treatment of him, hell her inner persona had even started disliking Sasuke after the Chunin Exams when Naruto risked his life against Gaara to save her. She stifled back a sob, her childish obsession and stupidity had cost her far more than she thought...but could it be fixed? Did she even have a chance to tell Naruto how she felt now? How she had discovered once he was gone...that she did have feelings for him...probably not...

_**"You never know what you've got, until you've lost it or it's gone..."**_ Inner Sakura said solemnly before fading back to the recesses of her mind.

Ino also felt a blow to her stomach from this; she had been no better than Sakura was when they were children. Though she had never been physically abusive to him...unless you counted that one mission...but she had never really bothered to look his way either. Even when she had admitted that he was a friend and comrade, she never thought of him as anything else. Though she did come to realize that after he left to train, Konoha hadn't been the same without him...she still didn't admit it that she actually liked him being around. It wasn't until she saw him again after four years, grown up, mature, powerful and hot as hell did she actually really start thinking of him in that way...damn...she really had been a shallow bitch.

Tenten frowned. Like Naruto, she too had been a orphan, but she had never dreamed the poor guy had gone through such hell. Granted she always thought he was kind of cute in a playful sort of way, she had also thought that he was weak since he usually screwed off. She had seen otherwise when he beat the shit out of her crush at the time, Neji Hyuga. She had thought Neji was unstoppable...in truth it was Naruto who was unstoppable. So she watched him and was amazed with the amount of hatred he endured from others and yet awed at his strength of being. Naruto then went on to bring back her idol, Tsunade, to become the next Hokage and continued to do his best to prove that he was worthy of acceptance. She regretted that it wasn't until a year after he left that she realized that Neji and she would never be. If she had realized it sooner...she could have eased some of Naruto's pain.

Hinata felt bad for her crush. She had always looked up to him as her pillar of strength. He always was and always would be her strength. Though she had wanted him all to herself, she realized that as the last Namikaze he would likely take more than one wife. All the girls had made some head way with him...but not much and now she realized why. Naruto and his self sacrificing attitude hindered it...he seemed to think that no woman would ever love him. Indeed he had said as much that night he and Kakashi had spoke on the Hokage monument. But she still had hope that she and the other girls could get through to him...to show him that it didn't matter what a person was, it was who they were that counted.

Temari's heart went out to Naruto. She knew all too well how hard life could be for a Jinchuuriki. Gaara, until he met Naruto, had been lost in his misery and loneliness. She had tried for years to be a good sister to him but due to her damned father always trying to kill him, he gained trust issues that screwed up every chance she had at forming a proper sibling relationship. Then Naruto came along, beat the tar out of Gaara and then rather than kill him...offered him the one thing he never had before...true friendship...no stings attached or hidden agendas. Since then Gaara had regained most of his humanity and they were now a family. Temari had always been extremely grateful to Naruto for what he did; it had shocked her that another Jinchuuriki could be so compassionate. Truly, Naruto was the epitome of what a Jinchuuriki should be. Perhaps that was the reason she grew to have feelings for him over the years...and if she had her way, she'd show him that he too deserved love.

* * *

Several hours had passed since Naruto's speech. He was now perched on the Suna gates gazing out over the endless dunes of the desserts of Wind Country. He wasn't really sure what had compelled him to give that speech, perhaps it was just a need to get things off his chest. He wasn't bitter...not really, yet that speech had made it sound like he cursed his own existence.

Naruto sighed and chalked it all up to the usual teenage angst. Granted his life for the most part sucked, but it wasn't in his nature to be so angsty. It was just one of those, in the moment, things that seem to happen around him.

He adjusted his long crimson scarf as the winds had made it unravel a bit. It was now fluttering behind him along with his trench cloak...flapping in the breeze. It was getting late, by the position of the sun he'd have to guess it was about six in the evening.

He felt six chakra signatures behind him and turned to see Kakashi and the girls walking up. He idly noted each of them had rather solemn looks on their features and felt a pang of guilt. His problems were his own...he hadn't meant to make them feel bad. Had he been paying more attention he would have realized that they were all listening to him and he wouldn't have said so much.

All but Sakura and Ino looked up at him; the two former fan girls had their heads downcast and looked rather depressed. Naruto silently cursed himself...sure he wanted them to realize a few things. He was no fool, not anymore, he knew they were seeking his companionship, and in a way he was very flattered. He wasn't against the idea either, but they needed to realize all the risks involved...but not during a mission of such importance. He needed to nip this in the bud before it got any worse...they could fix things later but right now he needed his teams head in the game.

Jumping down he landed softly between the girls and placed a hand on each of their shoulders startling them. Both girls heads shot up, eyes wide as they looked at the young man they had wronged in the past. A small but true pleasant smile was on his features, his eyes holding no malice or hate...just concern.

"I am sorry you two heard what I said earlier. But what's in the past, is in the past. I hold no grudges and by the same light, neither of you should torture yourselves over the foolishness of youth. We all made mistakes back then, I made more than anyone should have been allowed to, but I move on with my life and try to make the best of a bad situation. The two of you should as well...that goes for you too, Kakashi-sensei...don't let the past haunt you so much that it destroys your present and future." Naruto said in a calm and soothing tone.

_"Most surprising and unpredictable Shinobi indeed...how do you do it, Naruto-kun?" _Temari thought with admiration.

Sakura and Ino were a bit stunned, how could he not absolutely despise them? Yet they could see it in his eyes, he held no ill will towards either of them...just concern for their well being. Both felt pangs in their chests...they didn't deserve such treatment but neither was willing to shun such kindness either...they made that mistake once already, no way in the nine hells would they be that stupid again.

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." Ino said almost shyly...completely out of her usual flirty character.

Sakura nodded. "We...will do our best to be better friends from now on, I promise." Sakura added.

Naruto nodded and gave each a gentle squeeze, both girls secretly enjoying his touch.

"That is fine, but for now we have a friend in need. We can work on all of this later. I need all of you to have your heads in the game...despite what you all might think, I'm not some super ninja...I am powerful, but I worked hard to gain what I've gotten, just as all of you have worked hard to earn your own power. Each of you...be proud of what you have accomplished so far, you all have skills that I need to make this mission a success. Now...shall we go save our friend?" He asked.

"YEAH!" They all shouted feeling better after Naruto's pep talk.

Naruto flashed his foxy grin, leapt back and turned back into his Fox form.

**"Alright then, Ladies, Kakashi-sensei...let's go show those Akatsuki-teme's why it's a mistake to screw with Konoha and her allies!" **Naruto boomed.

They all nodded and smiled as Naruto got down and let them climb on.

**"Okay, Temari, which direction do I need to go?" **Fox-Naruto asked.

"South by South-East. That was the direction Sassori was seen going when Gaara was knocked out." She said.

**"You all know the drill; hold on tight, we're going to be ripping up dessert." **Naruto said and tore off in the direction Temari instructed him to.

Temari climbed up to Naruto's head and sat down next to his left ear. "Thank you for all you've done for us Naruto-kun...we can't thank you enough...I can't thank you enough."

**"Don't sweat it, Gaara is one of my best friends, you and Kankuro are precious people to me, I will always do everything in my power to protect each of you. I know if the situation was reversed...you'd all try to do as much for me." **Naruto replied.

"More than you think, Naruto-kun...more than you think." Temari said softly.

Sakura watched and felt a bit jealous, she knew she'd have to share though and for the most part that didn't bother her. She just wanted to have a private moment with Naruto too. She had been worried about him ever since she found those blood spatters in the hall at the hospital. She could only hope that nothing was wrong with Naruto. She'd never forgive herself if she never got the chance to tell him how she really felt.

What she didn't know was that similar thoughts were going through the other girl's minds at that moment. Naruto had touched the hearts of each one in different ways. It was one of his most powerful gifts, to bring out the best in those he cares for. Though it doesn't always work, like in Sasuke's case, he still managed to help those who needed it. The key was that those he helped...they had to want it. They had to want to change; a tiger doesn't change its stripes unless it wants to.

As the dessert sands kicked up behind the massive six tailed fox, each of the team members could only wonder what battle would be in store for them once they found Gaara and his kidnappers. They could only pray that each of them survived the experience.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	7. Rescue Mission Blood Stained Sands

Chapter 7 : Rescue Mission - Blood Stained Sands

Outside of a massive cave and rock formation in the south-eastern point of Wind Countries massive dessert stood Deidara, still slightly disheveled from his previous battle with the blonde Hanyou. Scattered around the area was an army of Clay Drones, special featureless, humanoid, masses of clay that could turn their limbs into weapons at need.

He could feel a massive source of chakra heading towards their destination at a high rate of speed, which was bad since they would need at least one more day for the extraction to be completed, otherwise the entire process will have to be started over again.

As a counter measure to the danger that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki posed, a massive boulder was also placed in front of the cave with several special blood seals placed on it from the inside. The seals were made to let only members of the Akatsuki enter into the inner cavern and savagely repel any attempts to get in, there was also a special earth seal on the rock to make it repair itself if damaged. Simply put, no one was getting in, the only entrance was blocked and it would take days to drill through the rest of the rock thanks to more seals placed in various spots.

Still, Deidara was worried. He was the only line of defense against the demon boy and his team of ninja. He was still aching from the beat down he got from the kid earlier as well, thankfully his chakra levels had returned to their maximum so he was ready for to fight and with all the little helpers he created from his special jutsu, he sould stand a better chance this time around.

A gigantic fox was coming into view in the distance, just as the morning sun rose into the sky. Deidara quickly mounted his large clay bird and took to the air for better ranged attacks. It was only a matter of time now...he wouldn't fail against the Jinchuuriki this time and the Akatsuki would have yet another prize to add to their growing collection.

* * *

Naruto narrowed his glowing blue eyes as he carried his friends closer to their destination. He could smell Deidara, Gaara and someone else and could sense various sources of chakra. The closer they got the easier it was to see the massive army of clay drones and clay birds flying about.

_**"Damn...looks like pretty boy isn't going to screw around this time. I can't risk using anymore Chaos Chakra or any really big attacks. Looks like it's going to have to be done the fun way then." **_Naruto thought.

Naruto slowed to a stop and let his friends off as he reverted to his Hanyou form. He looked at those gathered around him, he could clearly see worry in the girl's eyes. Even Kakashi seemed to be a bit worried.

"Alright, we are going to attack girly boys little army of clay critters head on. I'm going for Deidara personally, he got away from me last time, he won't get away from me this time." Naruto stated his face set hard as stone.

"Are you sure...one of us can back you up?" Sakura asked worriedly.

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure, just remember what we've come here to do and don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." Naruto turned around. "Let's go!"

Naruto shot forward at high speed, leaving behind an after image as a cloud of sand was kicked up behind him. Kakashi was next to follow, closely by the five girls, each of them had looks of fierce determination.

Deidara saw the group approaching fast. "Destroy them! Make their deaths a beautiful piece of art worthy of my genius!" He ordered from his spot above.

Naruto grinned ferally. "I've been saving this for a special occasion!" He growled as he began channeling a good amount of chakra into his hands. A Rasengan appeared in each hand.

Naruto then leapt up high in the air as he slowly fused both Rasengan together to make one massive spiraling sphere. His hands gripped around the large ball of swirling chakra like a large ball as he thrust it forward causing it to flare brightly.

"Gatling Rasengan!" Naruto snapped.

Deidara could only watch in horror as thousands of mini-bullet Rasengan fired out of the massive one at rapid fire speed. Each of the miniature Rasengan drilling through a good number of his Clay Drones and exploding inside of them with impressive force.

"My turn." Kakashi monotoned as he ran through hand seals. "Fire Release - Dragon Flame Missile!"

The copy ninja blew out a massive crimson flamed dragon from his mouth which in turn spat out a barrage of fireballs. Another good number of the drones went down, melting under the intensity of the flame attack.

"Smile for the birdie." Deidara grinned evilly and gestured with his hand.

A massive flock of birds flying over head suddenly reshaped themselves into a literate rain of shuriken and shot towards Naruto at blinding speeds. Being busy at the moment...meaning he was smashing drones into powder, he didn't have time to react properly to the barrage.

Everyone watched as Naruto was littered with clay shuriken. Naruto winced as the sharp blades ripped through his flesh. However what would kill most humans...tends to only piss off a Hanyou.

Deidara cringed as Naruto's eyes went from icy sapphire blue to glowing bloody crimson. Naruto's already feral features became more pronounced as his muscles bulged slightly. Crimson chakra began surrounding his body much like a diseased sun vents red plasma.

Naruto let out an animalistic snarl as all of the shuriken were forced out of his body, each followed by a small spurt of blood.

"Oh shit...he's pissed!" Kakashi gulped as Naruto looked up at Deidara and narrowed his beastly red glowing eyes.

Sakura rammed her fist through another drone destroying it but gasped when she saw Naruto...she'd never seen him so angry looking before. It was like the blonde Akatsuki member had somehow pushed the wrong button. Ino, Tenten, Temari and Hinata also noticed this and became worried...what would Naruto do in this state?

Naruto's chest suddenly swelled as if he had taken in a deep breath. Kakashi's visible eye widened in fear, Jiraiya had mentioned this particular power to him.

"Cover your ears!" Kakashi yelled.

No sooner did the group do as told did Naruto snap his head forward and let out a massive inhuman roar...a sonic roar that seemed to make the sand vibrate beneath their feet. A whole platoon worth of drones were blown away and ripped apart from the force. Deidara's clay mount was blown high up into the air as its masters ears began to bleed from the piercing noise from the roar.

**"Don't think you can get away from me teme!" **Naruto growled and leapt back up into the air with help from his chakra.

The other ninja could only watch surprised as their team leader shot up towards their foe like a human bullet. Kakashi was a bit worried though. He had noticed that Naruto's wounds weren't healing at their usual rate and since he wasn't poisoned it meant that he was focusing so much of his chakra that it weakened his healing factor a bit. The question was...why wasn't he using that strange purple chakra of his?

He wasn't able to think anymore on it as another legion of drones came stampeding towards him and the girls, each with blade-like appendages. He raised his headband to reveal his Sharingan...the time to play was over. Going through a few hand seals he put his hand down and grasped his wrist.

"Raikiri!" Kakashi barked as lightning chakra rippled around his hand and formed a blade of electrified chakra.

Ino pulled out two kunai with explosive tags on them and hurled them at the enemies. She then formed the tiger seal and smirked. "Boom." The explosion took out about six of them in one go.

Sakura dodged a strike by one, grabbed its arm and used the drone as a bat to belt three more advancing drones, each of them shattering from the force of the blow. Swinging back her fist she shattered the torso of the one coming from behind and to deal with the two coming from the sides she did a high speed spin kick, landing in a slight crouch before shooting off towards her next opponent.

Hinata began going through seals of her own as a sphere of chakra appeared around her. "You are all in my field of divination..." She muttered softly as she fell into a special Jyuuken stance she created. Her hands began striking out at speeds that could have been on par with Naruto. Streaks of chakra began forming as Hinata picked up the tempo. "Mystical Protection, 145 Crescent Blade Strike!"

A massive barrage of crescent chakra blades began shooting out from Hinata's palm strikes and ripping into the drones before her. Her Byakugan giving off a piercing glare towards her foes.

"Twin Rising Dragons!" Tenten shouted as twin summoning scrolls coiled around her letting out a rain of sharp and pointy items of death. "Now Temari!" She called out.

Temari smirked and opened up her large battle fan. Swinging it down harshly she unleashed a massive burst of strong wind turning the falling weapons into a barrage of bladed bullets. Hundreds of weapons impaled and destroyed another platoons worth of drones.

"Mess with the best..." Temari smirked as Tenten landed next to her.

"Die like the rest." Tenten finished as the two gave each other a high five.

Deidara could see that he was getting nowhere fast with these brats and the Jinchuuriki brat. He summoned up the various parts of his scattered army and infused them with another large portion of his own chakra after popping a soldier pill. The massive mass of clay writhed and twisted until if formed a gigantic behemoth version of the Clay Drones he had made before hand. His chakra infusion a little different this time to ensure that the giant would only be vulnerable by an attack to its core.

Ino and Tenten threw several kunai with explosive tags on them only to have them cause a much smaller amount of damage this time around and the damage repaired itself. Sakura and Hinata tried their luck...Hinata got swatted aside and Sakura's fist got stuck in the clay, which in turn started absorbing her chakra.

Kakashi ran through hand seals at a rapid pace as he gathered a large amount of chakra. "Lightning Release - Thunder Dragon Missile Jutsu!" Several energy bolts in the shape of dragons shot at the giant clay being but rather than damaging it, the giant absorbed the chakra in the attack.

"HAHAHAHA!!" Deidara laughed. "You fools! I thought something like this might happen so I put special seals on each of my clones and one of them had a chakra absorbsion seal on it. This masterpiece of mine is indestructible yeah! The more you weaklings attack it, the stronger it gets!" The blonde man laughed again. "Now you bastards will die at the hands of my wonderful art, it will be a truly beautiful scene to behold!"

Naruto landed back on the ground after using the pricks clay bird weapons as stepping stools but he was a bit too fast on that large bird of his for him to catch up to and turning into his six tailed form with his friends so close could hurt them.

_**"Dammit! My human and demon chakra are just getting absorbed...but what can I do? If I use my chaos chakra...it might either destroy it or over load it and we end up with a massive explosion on our hands. Damn bastard has enough explosive clay set into that thing to take out a quarter of Wind Country. I only have two possible choices...either I use Ebony and Ivory's true power or I use my Chaos Chakra and hope my body can hold out. Well...here goes nuttin." **_Naruto thought as he let some of his power levels drop a bit to conserve his energy and give his healing factor more chakra to work with.

As Naruto made to grab his swords his friends noticed that he used his nails on his pointer fingers to click something on the swords handles. His bestial eyes had hardened ever further than before to the point that they appeared to be glowing sapphires instead of eyes, his brow knitted in intense concentration. He drew his swords and to everyone's shock...neither had a blade...just the handles and hilts.

"I had hoped to save this little trump card of mine for a later date but as it is, I have no other choice." Naruto growled at Deidara.

The man laughed. "Oh and just what the hell do you plan on doing with swords with no blades you little retard?"

Naruto smirked ever so slightly, revealing one of his fangs in a creepy manner. "Blade of Radiance, shine fourth!" Naruto barked.

Ivory began to give off a gold and silver glow and then to the shock of all present a long blade made of pure gold light with silver swirls burst from the hole in the hilt. The blade hummed and crackled with pure energy, not chakra, but actual solidified light energy. Naruto raised Ebony and pointed it towards Deidara.

"Blade of Darkness, engulf all!" Like ivory a blade of energy shot out. It was so black that it seemed to swallow the light around it as purple and red energy crackled up and down the blade.

"Ebony and Ivory...my twin katana blades, but their true names are Goru-Nova and Goru-Nega, the mystical swords wielded by the legendary warrior, Arashi Kazama, millennia ago when he fought in the war of the Demons Fall. Blades made of pure light and dark energy, blades that can cleave through anything...even souls." Naruto intoned as he twirled his swords and took his familiar stance, the same stance the legendary warrior had used.

"The time for play is finished, Deidara of Iwa, you and your twisted sense of art will die this day...prepare yourself, death awaits you."

**BOOOOMMMMM!!**

A shockwave of power erupted from Naruto the likes of which no one had felt before. This power, it wasn't chakra, but rather raw spirit energy or ki. A sudden pressure filled the area like an intense field of gravity; the killing intent laced within the pressure was so potent that even Shukaku could feel it causing the Ichibi to shudder in fear.

Sassori's heart, which was in a glase container, began to beat rapidly in fear as he struggled to keep to the task at hand. Little did he know that his partner was not fairing very well, in fact Deidara almost wished he would have a heart attack just to end the sudden sense of foreboding that was washing over him.

Sand was being kicked up around Naruto in a small, barely contained tornado caused by the outlasting of his power. The very ground was vibrating due to the massive amounts of power being used. His chi, ki, chakra and psi levels were off the charts and though it was causing an incredible strain on his body it wasn't as bad as if he were using the chaos chakra with it or alone.

Naruto suddenly vanished from sight, he moved so fast that it took several seconds for the sand kicked up by his foot falls to actually catch up to him. Twirling his sword back he thrust his fist forward and punched the giant drone with such force that it blew a large hole clean through its lower torso.

He then began to run up the body of the giant until he was high enough to jump up over its head. He began moving his swords in an intricate pattern as he pumped as much of his power as he safely could into his coming attack. He then tossed his swords up into the air and they began circling the giant drone slowly like buzzards waiting for their prey to drop. Naruto then went through a series of unknown hand seals...griffon, phoenix, angel, demon, angel, basilisk, manticore, unicorn, demon.

"Light and Dark Ultimate Fusion Arts - Eternal Requiem!" Naruto called out.

The two swords began going around the giant at a much faster pace until a runic seal circle appeared above it and beneath it, one for light, one for dark. Both energies fused together and connected between the rune seals engulfing the giant clay drone. Naruto raised his left hand.

"Be gone..." He snapped his fingers and the seals flared brightly and surged with power before slamming into each other and then vanishing...leaving nothing behind but a slight ripple in the empty space.

Deidara screamed in rage as his precious work of art vanished without a trace. Anger turned into slight fear when he felt Naruto's presence behind him, a crackling black blade resting on his shoulder and burning into his flesh. Deidara then smirked and melted into the large clay bird he was on.

"Very good, brat, I underestimated you...but let's see how you handle high altitudes, yeah!" The mad bombers voice came from the bird as it shot up higher in the sky at break neck speed. Naruto had to use chakra just to stick to the damnable thing as it continued to rise up higher and higher.

"What the hell do you have planned, girly-boy?" Naruto snarled out.

Clay then became putty-like and twisted around Naruto's body like an octopus as Deidara's face appeared out of the clay, an insane glint in his lone eye and a maniac grin on his face.

"We're going to go out like a bang! You will be my last and most beautiful piece of art as your obliterated remains rain down on your comrades!" Deidara laughed insanely as his body and the clay bird began expanding at an alarming rate. "Art is such a blast; yeah...you will be fodder for my glorious explosion!"

"...SHIT!" Naruto cursed.

**KAAABBOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!**

The Shinobi below could only watch in horror as the thing Naruto and the blonde mad man had been on blew up in a near megaton class explosion.

Naruto glared out of his small barrier shield, he had to use his chaos chakra to erect a powerful shield to keep from being blown to bits. But now he was falling at an incredible rate of speed. One consolation to the whole thing was that he saw Deidara's head get blown off from the rest of his body; he knew the prick was dead...no doubts there. He released the shield and began going through hand seals. If this idea worked he'd have a much softer landing.

"Wind Release - Great Breakthrough Jutsu!" Naruto barked and exhaled a massive gust of wind as he changed the position of his body so he was heading down head first.

It did slow his fall a bit but when he hit the ground with enough force to cause sand to splash up like water it caused the girls to all scream and run towards where he landed. To their relief they found him down on one knee in the crater panting heavily from the experience.

Naruto seized up for a second and hacked up several clots of blood, his body hadn't fully recovered from his previous uses of chaos chakra. Sakura gasped and began running a diagnostic scan on him.

What she found shocked her. Most of his organs had taken some serious damage but they were also healing as she ran the diagnostic jutsu. His body was also suffering from a case of chakra poisoning, a side effect of chaos chakra, his muscles had been pushed beyond their limits and were now restoring themselves as well and his chakra levels were acting a bit erratic but were slowly calming back down.

Sakura cast a stern look at Naruto, who to his credit didn't flinch.

"Naruto! That purple chaos chakra of yours...it's causing your body harm every time you use it isn't it!?" She asked.

Naruto turned his head and spat out a bit of the blood remaining in his mouth.

"Chaos Chakra is a combination of human and demon chakra with demon Yokai added into it. The Yokai, until I gain my ninth tail is like a poison to my body since only full blooded demons can use it without side effects." He said and stood back up and deactivating the blades of Ebony and Ivory.

"So that means..." Kakashi started.

"Wh-when you g-get your final t-tail...you b-become a full...demon." Hinata finished.

"That's about the jist of it." Naruto said nonchalant. "Everything has a price, especially power; the price I am paying is that I am slowly losing my humanity. I can and always will be able to think and feel like a human, but once the ninth tail appears I will no longer be able to take a complete human form. I will have to assume my Hanyou form instead."

Naruto began walking towards the large sealed cave. "C'mon, we've got a Kazekage to save." He said and began walking again.

Temari frowned. "Kakashi-san...is there anything that he doesn't sacrifice?" She asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Yeah...his friends and family. He would never sacrifice anyone precious to him, but he has no problem with self-sacrifice...it's pretty much all he's ever known. To be honest, he is the epitome of the Jinchuuriki...the power of human sacrifice. His will is so strong that even the most powerful tailed demon couldn't break it...but if he were to lose someone he loves because of his own actions or actions taken against him...I believe that alone would break his will."

"But why didn't he lose it when he failed to bring Sasuke back?" Ino asked. "I thought those two were supposed to be like brothers."

"Sasuke rarely showed Naruto any sort of kindness; in fact he usually held contempt for him and whatever power he might have gained. Naruto just wanted acknowledgement and friendship from him but he was denied. To be honest, I think the only reason he even went after Sasuke was because Sakura begged him to." Kakashi said and Sakura hung her head.

Naruto's voice filtered back to them from a distance. "Sensei...the past is where it belongs, in the past. I was young and I was a fool...we all were back then. It wasn't just my promise to Sakura that made me go and try to bring back Sasuke...it was a blind hope that he wasn't as corrupted by his thirst for power as he was."

Naruto then continued on his way towards the large sealed cave.

* * *

The rest of the team caught up to their leader to find him staring intently at a large stone blocking the entrance to the small cave Gaara was held in. The entire area had various repellant and locking seals, the largest of which was on the boulder.

Sakura walked up and cracked her knuckles. "I got this one, Naruto-kun; I'll turn that rock into powder."

"Sakura I don't...wait!" Naruto warned but was too late.

Sakura shot forward and thrust her fist into the boulder with as much chakra enhanced strength she could muster. There was a thunderous crack as her fist impacted with the boulder; the stone itself seemed to crack for a second before somehow repairing itself and repelling Sakura with a massive surge of violent energy. Naruto appeared behind her and caught her before she could be hurt further; his eyes narrowed at the boulder as he gingerly sat her down.

"So that's how it is...interesting." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura, now nursing several burns and a sprained wrist wither her medical jutsu glowered at the boulder. The one damn time she could really be useful outside of healing and it was taken away from her.

"Do you know what kind of seals those were?" Kakashi asked looking carefully at them.

"A combination of several it seems...a restoration seal to repair damage and several high power repelling seals to keep unwanted visitors out. My guess is that they are also set to react to Akatsuki members only; otherwise you get a nasty belt like Sakura just did. The same seals are spread around the entire area too making it nearly impossible to get in." Naruto answered.

"Can't you break the seals, you are a Fuuinjutsu master right?" Temari asked.

"I could...but if you look at the way these seals are placed they are set to make a protective web and from what I can tell, their power source is within the cave. Even with Ero-sennin's help it would take me at least 24 hours to dismantle all these seals if I ran into no complications." Naruto stated cracking his knuckles.

"What are you planning?" Ino asked noticing the feral grin crossing his features.

"We don't have the time to dismantle the seals...so I'm going for a more direct approach." He answered.

"Are you going to blast your way in or something?" Tenten asked curiously.

"Nope, I might kill Gaara if I used that kind of power; the best answer to this situation is good old brute strength." Naruto grinned.

"But I just tried that and look what happened to me!" Sakura exclaimed.

"True, but your strength is augmented by your incredible chakra control...mine is natural because I'm a Hanyou. Also none of you have the threshold for pain that I do...and this is gonna hurt like hell!" Naruto said, flattened out his hand and stabbed it into the boulder like a blade.

"NARUTO!!" The girls shouted in fear.

The boulder began glowing brightly as seals appeared all over it. Violent energy trying to repel Naruto began attacking him, stray bolts crackling all over his body as his tails flailed about behind him.

Naruto let out a grunt of pain, it felt like someone was trying to burn, rip, tear and electrocute him all at once.

"Grr...Th-this is nothing compared to what I dealt with as a kid...NOTHING!!" He roared and rammed his other hand into the boulder.

A large crack began forming in the center of the boulder as the seals continued to repair it. Naruto's muscles bulged as he began trying to pull the boulder apart at the center. His body trembled, his lips curled up and a feral snarl as veins on his arms could be seen pulsing.

A sudden surge of power from the seals nearly knocked him back as the crack began to seal itself back up. Naruto let out a low growl and put all of his strength into it causing his shirt and trench coat to rip off of him from the strain on the fabric and the eratic energy surging all over his body.

Naruto's eyes then widened as his body seized up a bit, he grit his teeth hard as a tearing noise was heard, or in his case felt, behind him. A gout of blood hit the sand as a seventh tail grew out of his back, causing the others to gasp at the new appendage.

The bolder groaned as Naruto began to win against the seals. The main seal in the center of the rock began pulsing and flaring in a last ditch effort to fulfill its duty and hit Naruto with a massive surge of repelling energy.

**"EEERRRAARRGGHHH!! LET ME FUCKING IN YA DAMN DIRT BALL!!" **Naruto roared, his demonic tone thundering through the area.

With one final rush of inhuman strength the boulders seals shattered and the rock was split in two and sent flying forty feet to each side of the young Hanyou. Energy was still crackling off his muscles as steam poured from his body. Naruto grabbed the remains of his shirt and coat and tore them the rest of the way off as a deep rumbling growl vibrated up from his throat. The look on his face was terrifying, his fangs were now longer, his whisker marks deeper, his eyes giving off a baleful crimson glow and his hair was wilder than before. As he put his hands down to his sides he flexed his clawed fingers, each razor sharp retractable object coming out to its maximum length.

**"Knock, knock...repo man here, you've got a Kazekage here that hasn't been paid for...shall we settle accounts now...Sassori of the Crimson Sands?" **Naruto snarled as his demonic blood lust filled the area creeping everyone one...even Shukaku who for once was trying to get back into his seal in hopes of saving its tail.

The rest of his team cringed, it didn't take a fool to see that Naruto's temper had hit its limit and Sassori...well they hoped there was such a thing as puppet insurance.

Naruto was livid, down right, absolutely pissed off. First Deidara's bull and now that damned sealed boulder. To hell with precautions, he was going to tear that demented Pinocchio wannabe to splinters when he got his claws on him. He was tired, hungry and more than a little cranky at this point. Gaining his seventh tail had also boosted his power and physical abilities...but it had hurt like hell fire.

It didn't take long for several of Sassori's corpse puppets to come rushing towards him and start firing off poisoned Senbon needles. Now this would normally have been a problem, but with the seventh tail comes a special ability...as with all the other tails. The seventh tail makes the bearer's flesh and skin stronger than the toughest leather hide while leaving it looking and feeling like normal flesh and skin. Simply put only certain jutsu or special weapons could pierce or cut him now, like enchanted weapons and the like.

Kakashi's jaw nearly ripped out of his mask as all the Senbon bounced, bent or broke upon contacting Naruto's skin, not a single one even so much as put a pin hole in his skin. The same from the kunai that came in the follow up barrage. One even bounced off his forehead and didn't even leave a scrape!

Naruto caught one of the stray kunai in his bare hand, looked at it and crushed it, the weapon shattered not harming him in the slightest and fell to the ground in pieces. A somewhat demented grin crossed Naruto's feral features.

**"Oh, I do believe I will enjoy the ability that came with this tail...well worth the pain suffered to gain it."** Naruto snarled out and then grabbed the two corpse puppets. **"I wonder...can a corpse puppet feel fear or pain...let's find out shall we?" **

Naruto let out a cruel, if not evil sounding chuckle as he crushed and shredded the two puppets like mere child's toys. If this had scared his teammates, Kyuubi's head forming out of red chakra next to him nearly made them piss themselves as Sassori continued to send puppet after puppet after him.

_**"That's it...kill, rip, tear, break, DESTROY!" **_Kyuubi's voice echoed through the area as it laughed evilly. _**"Show them all the power of the Oni-Kitsune Clan! Bathe this pathetic land in their BLOOD!!"**_

Naruto's clawed hand shot up and grabbed the chakra manifestation and brought it down to eye level. Naruto's glowing crimson eyes narrowed menacingly at the demon fox.

**"You would do well to get back into your cage, Kyuubi, before I decide to come in there myself and finish what the seals doing to you early...or perhaps I should just skin you and lay your pelt at the edge of my bed!" **

_**"You dare to defy me HUMAN FLESH RAT!!" **_

**"I dare...so get back into the seal, sit down and SHUT UP! You are no longer a threat to me, you haven't been since I gained five tails. I am sick of you trying to warp my mind every friggin night, so help me kami, the next nightmare you give me I will personally come into the seal and have roast fox demon for dinner, I am not in the mood for your bull shit so fuck off!" **Naruto roared and forcibly shoved Kyuubi back into the seal.

The six humans present could only gawk, not only had Naruto finally faced down the demon sealed in him but he had actually scared the beast if it's wide eyed look and shudder was any indication. All while destroying puppets being sent at him by a now frantic Sassori, whose scorpion-like body was scuttling about in fear.

"Those were my best puppets! Do you realize how much time I put into making them!?" Sassori roared.

Naruto sneered at the puppet man. **"My heart bleeds for you. Kakashi-sensei, get Gaara out of here...the rest of you get out as well. It's time that I show little Sassori here what it means to take on a real demon." **

"Leave the Jinchuuriki alone! It is my prize and I must extract the demon!" Sassori bellowed as he pulled out a rather large summoning scroll.

Producing a phial of red fluid, Sassori, let a drop of it fall onto the scroll parchment and then drew an odd design with his wooden fingers. Just as Kakashi and Temari got Gaara's prone form out of the cave several large plumes of smoke erupted from the scroll Sassori had placed the blood on.

As the smoke cleared, Naruto could make out metallic puppet parts. He idly wondered what this nut job was up too since fully metal parts were rarely used as it made the puppet to sluggish for use in ninja combat. Chakra strings and odd wires shot out of Sassori's scorpion-like puppet body and attached to the massive metal parts around him. As this new puppet began taking shape the chakra levels in the area spiked drastically sending out a large shockwave that drove the others out of the cave.

Naruto remained steadfast in his place as he watched the puppet take on a large humanoid armored form with Sassori's body being enclosed within the core of its chest. Naruto could also make out several large crystal chakra energy cores on the puppets shoulders, chest plate, head and legs. Various seals were also placed on the thing making it stronger and more advanced than normal puppets...almost like some sort of machine.

"Behold, Demon brat, the power of my ultimate creation...the Automaton! The ultimate puppet and weapon!" Sassori's voice echoed from the machine.

**"Looks like someone reads too much manga..." **Naruto deadpanned. **"Let's see if that overgrown tin-can of yours can handle me."**

Sassori's answer was to make the puppet move at speed it shouldn't have been able to and belt Naruto through a thin part of the cave wall and then follow him outside. Naruto righted himself mid-flight and skidded across the sand using his claws to act as breaks.

**"Damn...that wasn't expected."** Naruto grinned. **"This should be fun. It would be too easy to just destroy you in fox form...so I think I'll dismantle your ass instead. Time to see what makes this overgrown doll tick." **

"Not that easy, brat!" Sassori chuckled evilly and raised an arm as the pincer on the arm opened to reveal a cannon barrel. "Chakra Cannon!"

A large blast of black colored energy shot out of the cannon. Naruto dodged it but the rock formation behind him was reduced to powder in the explosion from the impact.

"You see, foolish boy, my core crystals are made from the combined energies of all the souls of the dead that I have slain and a few lesser demons using a forbidden Fuuinjutsu. Their horrible power is almost limitless, thus making me invincible!" Sassori exclaimed.

Naruto growled. **"The Suffering Soul Power seal and Dead Demon Essence seal...I should have known. You're sick...those damn crystal cores of yours are powered on the suffering and pain of those you've killed, their souls forever locked in that artificial crystal construct. Their power may be limitless...but it is also tainted."**

Once again red and blue chakra began swirling around Naruto's body as his chakra levels spiked. His seven tails flailing behind him angrily as his eyes began flashing between red, blue and purple. Raising and holding out his right arm a Rasengan appeared in his open hand, but unlike his other Rasengan you could see wind literately become visible as it swirled around the spiraling orb of chakra. The wind kept spinning faster and faster and solidifying until four blades of wind formed around it and began spinning rapidly.

The energy used by this move however seemed to be double edged as it was also tearing at the flesh on his arm, several spurts of blood shot out from fresh wounds. Even with the seventh tails specialty of making the body more resilient to damage this move was too powerful to completely cancel out all damage...though in this case...the results out weighed the price.

**"Let's see if that armor can stand up to one of my ultimate Rasengan...Wind Release - Rasen-Shuriken!" **Naruto snarled and threw the spiraling blade of wind chakra at the massive puppet. It had taken him the better part of a year to figure out how to throw and control this jutsu and now was the perfect time to test it.

Sassori foolishly believed that the jutsu couldn't harm his prized Automaton...a fatal mistake. The wind shuriken shredded through the puppets right arm like it was mere tissue paper; it also cut through the remains of the cave behind him causing a large portion of the rock to fall over cleanly cut. The crystal on the right shoulder had been cut in two from the attack, energy leaked out of it like plasma from a diseased sun; you could hear the inhuman howls of the souls that had been trapped inside.

"IMPOSSIBLE!!" Sassori cried out in anger.

He shot another chakra beam from his left arm at Naruto. The young Hanyou, still beyond pissed off, belted the beam of tainted energy away like swatting a fly...though it did scorch his hand a bit. Naruto's body then blurred and reappeared above Sassori.

**"Time to go back to the scrap heap!" **He growled, flipped mid air and brought his heel down in a boulder crushing axe kick.

The head of the Automaton was crushed by Naruto's foot, destroying yet another crystal. Its energy source down by two now, it was moving much slower. So it was of little surprise to the on lookers that Naruto grabbed the other arm and ripped it off before using it like a baseball bat to knock the metal puppet into a stone wall.

Just as Naruto landed back into the sand his chakra levels pulsed in an alarming manner as a slow build up of pain began running through his body.

_**"Sh-shit...backlash...this happens...every time I...get a...new...tail...gotta finish this now...while I still...can." **_Naruto thought as he gritted his teeth in pain.

Backlash was the worst side effect of gaining a tail. After the initial boost of power you get from the tail, comes a horrendous amount of pain as his body and power adjusts properly. To make matters even worse, when this happens he is prone to attack as his body will be in a weakened condition for at least 24 hours as it adjusts and heals. The physical damages caused from the backlash can be rather nasty as it sometimes causes ones muscles and flesh to rip itself open due to the high amount of stress induced by demonic chakra and Yokai. The more tails you acquire the worse it becomes, there is also the possible chance that he might not be able to handle the extreme amounts of pain and die from it...or his own power will burn out his body and soul to ash...which ever comes first.

Naruto let out a silent curse, the backlash was causing his chakra to go so wild that he no longer could muster any reasonable amount of control to perform even a Shadow Clone. Wincing as the flesh on his left bicep ripped open sending out a spattering of blood he knew there was only one option left...to channel as much of his chaotic chakra into a single deathblow before he lost what little control he had left...it would render him unconscious but it would have to do.

Sassori's battered shell staggered out of his now destroyed ultimate puppet. The absolute power of that boy...it was insane...inhuman...completely beyond all of his logic. Yet the boy didn't wield his power like most do, he didn't seem to use it unless he had too.

"Heh, heh, heh...you...you are an interesting one...Uzumaki-san." Sassori muttered.

Naruto said nothing and charged at his foe as rips continued to appear on his flesh. The other ninja watched in shock.

"Sensei!? What's wrong with him!?" Ino asked horrified.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in thought. "I think it's some sort of power backlash or influx. Jiraiya spoke of it to me and wrote a bit about it in Naruto's info scroll. Apparently when he gains another tail he first experiences a large boost of energy and power that is shortly followed by a backlash of energy that can either cause him to go berserk or like what you're all seeing now...it causes him an inhuman amount of pain as his body adjusts accordingly. But if he isn't careful or if his will falters...he will die."

Sakura clasped her hands in front of her as she watched Naruto, worry etched on her features as she whispered his name. Tenten and Temari watched, their fists clenched and shaking at their inability to help. Ino mirrored Sakura's look while Hinata had dropped to her knees and silently prayed to Kami. Sakura let out a strangled scream as another rip in the flesh on Naruto's back opened up causing him to stumble a bit in mid dash.

Sassori began firing off more Senbon and kunai laced with poison. "If you think I'm going down that easily brat, then you've another thing coming!" The puppet master snarled.

**"One strike is all I need...my deadliest Taijustsu move." **Naruto growled.

Naruto began focusing all the power he could into his left fist, since his control for the moment was shot he was putting much more chakra into this blow than he wanted to. As a result his entire left arm was engulfed in a mass of chakra...red, blue and purple. The chaotic energy began taking shape on his arm as he cocked his fist back in mid sprint as his speed picked up despite the injuries the backlash was inflicting.

**"Dragons of ancient times, unleash a roar in my hand...Dead Dragon Destroyer!" **Naruto barked and thrust his fist towards Sassori, shattering an incoming kunai in the process.

An earth shattering roar filled the air as a mighty dragon formed completely of erratic chakra tore off from Naruto's left arm, its maw agape, the earth beneath it ripping up as it sped towards a shocked Sassori.

The mad puppet master was completely engulfed in the mass of chakra. His wooden body turning to ash near instantly from the intense heat. His heart exploded within its glass container before the container shattered and melted. Sassori of the Crimson Sands was vaporized within seconds, his screams still echoing in the area though his body no longer existed. For nearly ten miles behind him...there was a gaping tear in the dessert...the sand melted into glass from the heat of the chakra.

Naruto came to a dead halt as the most intense pain he had felt yet ripped through him. He let out a bone chilling roar of pain as his chakra levels went well beyond their usual limits. A massive pillar of energy surrounded him and shot up into the heavens, splitting the clouds as the beam of chakra entered the stratosphere.

As the energy settled down, Naruto's friends, rushed over to him. He was lying in a glass crater partially filled with blood. The rips on his flesh slowly sealing up as hot steam rolled off his muscles. His body was barely covered, his clothes destroyed from the harsh backlash of power and the fight.

"Damn...I thought I sensed a familiar power around here." Said a female voice from behind them.

The stunned group went on the defensive and took stances around Naruto's prone form as they looked at the new comer. It was obvious that she was like Naruto, a Hanyou. She had long silky blonde hair, cat-like green eyes, cat-like ears and two furry blonde tails swaying behind her. Around her neck was a Kumo headband with a slash through it.

"Who are you and how do you know Naruto-kun?" Sakura demanded.

The young woman chuckled slightly. "Pink hair, pretty green eyes and a fiery temper...you must be Sakura Haruno. My name is Yugito Nii, former container and newly instated Nibi the Nekomanta. I know Naruto because the lunk head is the one who helped me and Nibi merge together along with that perverted sensei of his."

Not detecting any falsehoods the ninja relaxed slightly. "Jiraiya-sama did mention you in the notes I received on Naruto here. You defected from Kumo when the Raikage tried to sell you out to Akatsuki for immunity from them. You fled and ran into Naruto and Jiraiya a short time later right?"

Yugito nodded. "You got it...but for right now I think we'd better get Foxy-kun there to a village where he can get proper rest...the nearest being Suna...is that alright?"

"That is fine; my brother here is the Kazekage and container of Shukaku." Temari stated.

"Okay..." Yugito said and in a large puff of smoke she shifted into a large cat about the same size as Naruto's fox form. **"Load em up and I'll get you guys there as fast as I can." **Her demonic voice echoed.

"Why are you being so nice to complete strangers? Not that I'm complaining..." Ino asked as Kakashi picked up Naruto and got onto Yugito's back.

**"I owe the kid...had he not have been nice to me...a stranger and a possible enemy...I would have been dead, Nibi ripped out of my body and my soul destroyed in the process. He was the first friend I ever had and I vowed on my honor as a Kunoichi that I'd help him if the chance ever presented itself. Besides...do you really need a reason to help someone? That is what he taught me." **The Nekomanta answered and took off in a full tilt run as soon as everyone was in place.

The group was silent as Sakura, Ino and Hinata tended to Naruto and checked him over, applying a medical jutsu when needed. Temari had Gaara next to her, asleep and slumped over on her as Tenten sat behind him to ensure he didn't fall over. Kakashi sighed...the mission was a success, two Akatsuki were dead and the one mostly responsible for the great feat was now out cold as a result of losing just a bit more of what makes him human. In the end the cycloptic ninja had to ask himself...was it truly worth it? He knew the answer, but was it too much to ask for the young Hanyou to gain some measure of peace.

_"The power of Human Sacrifice..."_ Kakashi mused silently as he watched the girls fuss over Naruto. _"Such a power is indeed great...but the price is terrible. I've always known that the suffering the Jinchuuriki endure was great...but this goes beyond what I had ever thought. Naruto...you truly are a better man than I...I could not do what you do and keep my sanity or humanity."_

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	8. Rescue Mission Downtime in Suna

Chapter 8 : Rescue Mission - Downtime in Suna

It had been two days since Gaara's rescue. Both Naruto and the Kazekage had been admitted to the hospital right away and what wounds remained was quickly treated. Gaara woke up the next day but Naruto has remained asleep since he passed out after killing Sasori.

Sakura, Hinata and Ino worked on him with Sakura taking head of the operation. Naruto was suffering from an extreme case of Burn Out due to severe power and chakra backlash when he gained his seventh tail. To properly rebuild his reserves and readjust his coils his body entered a state of stasis sleep until he was back to full power. It didn't stop the girls from worrying though, even if he was alright and in no danger, he was still in a deep sleep and none of them had any idea when he would wake up.

Yugito Nii, a two tailed Hanyou and former Jinchuuriki of Nibi the Nekomanta, figured that he would be out for another day or so since with each tail gained the back lash is that much more powerful than the previous one. Naruto had helped her through hers, but since she only had two tails to gain the backlash wasn't near as bad as what Naruto had to deal with. She had shuddered to think of what the backlash for the ninth tail would be like since he would not only become a full demon then but gain truly limitless chakra.

All those involved with the rescue took this time to take a well deserved rest and regain their strength. Kakashi was often at the book store checking to see if the latest Icha, Icha Paradise had been released. Temari was busy helping Gaara and Kankuro restore peace to the village. Sakura, Ino and Hinata often helped at the hospital to both watch over Naruto and aid anyone else in need. Tenten was helping Temari with the mission paperwork...something neither really liked. Finally, Yugito was also helping where she could.

A messenger bird had been sent the day the group arrived back in Suna, Tsunade sent a reply back to stay in Suna until Naruto is fully recovered and to take this time to relax a bit. None of them argued, when you were a ninja you never turned down a free vacation.

At the moment it was late at night as Naruto lay in his hospital bed, the pale moonlight filtering through the partially opened window curtains. Naruto's body jerked and shuddered slightly as his eyes opened and he blinked a few times as his mind came to a more conscious state.

"Damn...another nightmare..." He whispered and swallowed hard as he tried to erase the visions still fresh in his mind.

Naruto sat up in bed and noticed he was no longer sore, meaning his body had made a complete recovery. He also noticed he was in human form rather than Hanyou form. His clothes had been cleaned and fixed and were folded next to his bed sitting with his swords.

Glancing down he noticed he seal was uncovered and letting off its usual glow. He was clad only in a pair of hospital sleeping pants. Sighing he got out of the bed and stretched a bit as his bones popped back into place. He then grabbed the longer length of his now cleaned black bandages and began wrapping them around his lower torso.

After that was done he wrapped the shorter lengths around his forearms and then put his gloves and arm guards on. He then got out of the sleep pants and put on his boxers and his black pants...which had been fixed. His boots and trench coat had been destroyed in the battle so his friends had replaced them with duplicates from a Suna tailor. The coat was a bit different this time since it fit more like a cloak and mantle without sleeves. He finally put on his forehead protector and then put on his belts and swords.

He walked over to the window and opened it. The cold dessert night air felt soothing to his skin. Without another thought he leapt out of the window and landed on a roof top across the way. As per his usual habit he found one of the taller structures in Suna and perched there like a gargoyle watching over its city.

"It seems old habits die hard...I figured I'd find you up here, Naruto-kun." Yugito said as she landed next to him.

"Hello, Yugito-chan, visiting Suna?" Naruto asked still looking over the dessert; he had sensed her presence a short time ago and had caught her scent on his trek to the tower he was perched on.

"No...a few days ago I sensed your battle. I was passing through Wind Country on my way to Fire Country to take up your offer...I found you exhausted and your friends attending to you so I gave all of you a ride back here to Suna." She answered.

"I see." Naruto answered. "Thank you...the backlash from the seventh tail really took a lot out of me. So...you want to join Konoha now huh...I'll talk to mom about it, I'm sure she'll accept it."

Yugito nodded and side glanced at her friend. "You know...your little girlfriends have been really worried about you since the fight." She said doing her best to be nonchalant.

"Girlfriends...?" Naruto asked a bit confused. "Oh...you mean the ladies in my team. Nah, they're just good childhood friends and trustworthy teammates, nothing as serious as you thought." Naruto said not really wanting to get into this at the moment.

Yugito didn't buy it, she knew those girls had a thing for Naruto, hell she did too and if there was something going on she wanted in on the fun!

"Are you sure about that, they sure fussed a lot over you for just being friends." Yugito teased.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naruto replied. "Why are you so interested anyways?"

Yugito flushed slightly. "Umm...no reason really." She cleared her throat and ran her hand through her blonde hair. "You know...your friends are going to crap themselves when they don't find you in the morning."

"Eh, they're used to it. I rarely ever stay in a hospital if I don't have to. I hate hospitals." Naruto stated. "How's Gaara doing?" He asked after a short silence.

"The Kazekage is doing fine. Apparently when the removal of his Biju was canceled it forced the Ichibi to merge with him...he's like us now, Shukaku is gone and he's a Tanuki Hanyou. Apparently he likes the better control over his sand and the complete lack of a crazed Tanuki jabbering on in his head." Yugito chuckled.

Naruto chuckled as well. "I can relate. If the damn fox doesn't learn to keep its yap shut soon I'm going to go into the seal myself and neuter the bastard with a dull kunai."

Within the seal, Kyuubi cringed and put its claws between its legs...the damn kid was a freaking sadist and it got worse with every tail he gained. The ancient demon didn't like it, but his vessel was now far more powerful than he was and there wasn't jack squat he could do about it.

Kyuubi had accepted his fate; he had ever since the boy became a Hanyou. But that didn't mean he had to like it, oh no, he wasn't going out of this world without causing as much trouble for the blonde Jinchuuriki as it could...without getting neutered that is.

"Hmm...the one, two and nine tails are safely out of Akatsuki's reach. The five tails is in a completely different dimension and I know Golbi wouldn't tolerate them trying anything anyways. Sanbi is a complete baka and has most likely been caught. As for the four, six, seven and eight tails...not even Kyuubi knew where those guys were. At any rate, Akatsuki's plans for using the Biju are completely ruined." Naruto mused.

"But what about when you become a full demon, don't some of the people in your village have ways of suppressing demonic chakra via Wood Jutsu and Seals?" Yugito asked.

"There is one guy named Yamato with an affinity for Wood. But in order for those jutsu to truly work to their fullest the target has to have been a born demon...I was born human and am slowly becoming a demon. Besides, no human is powerful enough to totally subdue a Biju, they can only stall for time unless they try the Dead Demon Soul Seal Fuuinjutsu and there is only two people alive right now that know how to perform that jutsu...myself and Ero-sennin." Naruto answered.

"What about the Akatsuki leader...he's supposed to have some kind of really powerful Doujutsu called the Rinnegan that gives him affinities for all the elements?" Yugito countered.

"According to the memories I gained from Kyuubi-teme, the Rinnegan was the first Doujutsu to exist. But it only grants the user control over the five primary elements...it's strong sure, but it's not invincible. The same could be said about the Byakugan, Sharingan and Magenkyo Sharingan. All three are prone to bright bursts of light and even if the two Sharingan types can see through high speeds the user has to be physically able to keep up. Itachi is fast, I'm betting Sasuke has gained some speed as well but can they match demonic speed? And don't forget about the Magenkyo's disease and the curse it holds...all gifts come at some kind of price...the Sharingan has one of the worst prices there is to pay." Naruto stated shrugging his shoulders.

"That's true, to gain Magenkyo you have to kill your best friend and then the power slowly eats away at your eyes until you go blind." Yugito mused.

Naruto nodded. "There is a way around that, an Uchiha with a brother who has the Magenkyo, can kill his sibling, take the eyes and gain a Magenkyo without the disease and immortality, or rather a cursed eternity. It's the reason why Orochimaru wanted Sasuke so badly, he wanted Sasuke to kill Itachi and then take Itachi's eyes to gain the immortality while he used him as a vessel for his own twisted soul. Sad fact of the matter is, no matter how you look at it, Sasuke was and still is nothing more than a glorified pawn for both Orochimaru and Itachi."

"Not that it really matters anymore, the only way for the teme to gain his Magenkyo is to kill me and he isn't strong or skilled enough to do that anymore. Itachi will eventually go blind...if I don't kill him first and Madara...he's still a bit on the unknown side but I'll handle him when the time comes, just like I've handled everything else in my life up until this point."

"By beating the shit out of it and leaving a stain on the ground right?" Yugito asked dryly.

"Heh...pretty much. I know that way of thinking will likely get me killed on day, but hey...it is my nature to fight. One way or another, I will always be a fighter, it's always been like that and it probably always will be." Naruto said still staring at the moon, a slight smile on his face.

Yugito sighed; he cut such a handsome profile in the moonlight. For anyone who cared to actually look at him they would see a young man with a heavy burden hidden behind a calm and seemingly carefree mask. She knew better though...she had been just like him, a living sacrifice, hated, abused and generally used as a weapon for her village. Had it not been for him she would have given up on humanity...it was ironic in a way, one who had it just as bad, if not worse than she did...changed her whole perspective on life and gave her a reason to embrace her humanity despite being a Jinchuuriki and now a Hanyou.

He never let anyone get too close though, it saddened her. Since that time he helped her and Nibi to become one, she had gained feelings for him. But every time she tried to get things steered in a more serious direction he just let it blow over and continued to treat her like a good friend...nothing more, nothing less. From what she could see with the other girls, it was much the same with them. He was willing to be good friends with them but that seemed to be it.

For the life of her she couldn't figure out why though. She knew Naruto felt emotions like love and affection; she'd seen him give it to others...even those who didn't deserve it. Yet he never seemed to take any that was offered back to him in return. Perhaps it was his self-sacrificing personality or something more. She didn't really know but hopefully one day soon she could break past that barrier.

Yugito broke off from her thoughts and looked over to Naruto only to find that he had already left, completely and silently vanished from sight.

"Damn...I hate when he does that." She huffed.

* * *

The peaceful Suna morning was shattered by five exceptionally loud screams coming from the hospital. Screams so loud that they literately caused the sands to vibrate.

Naruto sweatdropped as he stopped in the middle of his kata. He was in a training ground on the other side of Suna...damn those girls had lungs on them.

Kakashi, who was perched on one of the training posts with his nose buried in his favorite orange book lazily peeked above its pages and gave his usual lazy eye smile towards his student.

"Sounds like the girls found out you checked yourself out last night." Kakashi mused.

Naruto just began going back through his kata while trying not to think about the monster class ass chewing he was going to get later...Kakashi wasn't so kind though.

"It's gonna take a lot of dates or special services to make this one up to them." The cycloptic Jounin chuckled.

Naruto stumbled in mid kata and ended up kissing the blunt side of his own sword, Kakashi just let out another chuckle.

"I fail to find the humor in this sensei." Naruto said dryly as he nursed his now tender nose.

"Really...I'm finding loads of it." Kakashi answered.

Naruto suddenly appeared behind Kakashi, a demented grin on his face. Kakashi sweatdropped and gulped slightly, karma really sucked sometimes.

"You're not supposed to drop your guard Kakashi-sensei, especially around enemies and irate former students." He muttered and formed the tiger seal. "1,000 years of Death!"

The civilians of Suna could only stare and blink as the famed Copy-Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, went flying over several buildings...screaming like a little girl while holding his own ass.

Yugito snickered from her spot a few feet away from Naruto.

"Think ya might have over done it a bit sugar?" She asked with a slight smirk.

Used to Yugito's flirting...since it was a lot like a cross between Ino and Anko, Naruto just shrugged.

"Let's just call it payback for my Genin test; I had nightmares for three weeks after he did it to me five years ago. Not to mention the fact it hurt like hell." Naruto grumbled.

**"NA-RU-TOOOOO!!" **Came the familiar scream from a short distance.

Naruto let out a shudder and broke out in a cold sweat. Yugito found the whole thing amusing...she had warned the blockhead after all. The poor sap didn't seem to understand that when you have females worried about you and then you just up and disappear on them...it adds to the worry and pisses them off.

"Aw...crap..." Naruto sighed.

The girls were getting closer as their voices filtered into the training grounds making Naruto either cringe, shudder or a odd combination of both. Hinata was the only one who didn't seem to be voicing an opinion...and for some odd reason that scared the shit out of him.

"When I find that inconsiderate little...OHHHH! I'm going to rip his tails off!" Sakura screamed.

"Then I'm going to shove them up his ass! The least he could have done was wait until morning to go gallivanting around Suna!" Ino added.

"Target practice for me." Tenten stated.

"I'll settle for castrating him and then bronzing his jewels and putting them on my mantle!" Temari yelled.

Naruto let out a slight shudder. "Geeze...are these girls or barbarians...and just what is so damn funny Yugito-chan?" He asked with several twitches of the brow.

Yugito shrugged with a giggle. "I did try to warn you. It's not my fault you're such a moron when it comes to us ladies." Her tails were swishing to and fro in an almost happy manner.

Naruto sheathed his blades and glared at his friend. "Well excuse me for not being to experienced in the gentle arts dammit, I'm a Ninja, not a Casanova."

"True, but your also a Hanyou, meaning you should have some instincts in that department." She said nonchalant.

Naruto let out a frustrated growl. "The nine tailed pricks only instinct was to rut like a critter in heat as much a possible so I don't think I could very well use that since I am not like that nor will I ever be. I swear that damn fox didn't have an ounce of romance in its whole body."

Yugito arched her eyebrow. "And you do? Last time I checked you still get nose bleeds if you accidentally get too much of a view of a females cleavage or you freeze up and start babbling like an idiot if you see a nude woman."

Naruto had the decency to flush slightly at that. "It's not my damn fault! And you! You knew I was in the next room and you still waltzed around naked like you were in your own home. How the hell was I supposed to act? It was the first time I'd ever been in that kind of situation and Ero-sennin hadn't put me into it!" He snapped back.

Yugito gave him a rather feline grin. "Oh...you didn't like what you saw? I could have sworn that you did."

"Well I...err...that is..." Naruto fumbled.

"Behind you lover boy." Yugito smirked.

Naruto slowly turned his head and saw five rather irate looking Kunoichi behind him, Yugito just giggled at the situation and decided to enjoy the show...if only she had some pocky...

Naruto's nice tanned complexion turned a sickly pale in a matter of seconds...five sets of the evil eye...one enhanced by the Byakugan...was enough to make even someone as demented as Orochimaru soil himself. Naruto settled for abject panic...was Tenten playing with a Kunai?

"Heh...h-hey ladies...nice weather we're having huh?" He asked lamely. _"Crap they look pissed off...did they hear Yugito...if they did..."_

Ino stepped up, a disturbingly sweet smile of her face a sure sign to Naruto that he was screwed.

"So...Naruto-kun, you skipped out of the hospital to spend time with your girlfriend did you? When were you going to tell us about cat-girl over there hmm? You seem to know each other much better than we thought considering you've seen her naked." Ino asked in a sickly sweet tone while Sakura cracked her knuckles.

_**"Kid...unless you wanna be neutered...you better run." **_Kyuubi added with a slight snicker in his tones.

Running seemed like an excellent idea but since Ino had grabbed one of his tails and had it in a very tight grip the brilliant idea was wasted. It didn't help that the demented fox was snickering in his head or that Yugito looked utterly amused with the whole situation.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Naruto either. He had no problem or fear in facing down hoards of enemies, demons or monsters but put five pissed off and seemingly hurt females in front of him and he was scared shitless. The fact that Hinata had lost the angry look and was now staring at him with big hurt and tear filled eyes literately sapped all the fight out of him and made him feel lower than crap on a boot.

However...

This wasn't the same Naruto that was once a Knucklehead, he may have kept his unpredictable nature but he was no longer an idiot or easily freaked out. As such the old insecurities he used to show and fear of irate females passed as quickly as it came. Yugito noticed the sudden shift in his personality and was rather shocked...she hadn't expected this to happen. Naruto was usually so fun and easy to tease.

Naruto's color returned to normal and his eyes narrowed as he shot a hard glare at Ino...who for her part gulped and suddenly remembered that this wasn't the same kid she used to know and that she was holding the tail of a rather powerful Hanyou.

"Kindly let go of my tail, would you?" Naruto said in a sharp voice...he didn't ask, he demanded it be done.

"Uhh...yeah...sorry bout that." Ino gulped and let go.

_"What's up with him all of a sudden...oh crap...I forgot."_ Yugito sighed. _"I should have remembered...he hates being dominated by females and the demonic blood in him will not allow it to happen anymore since he's kinda an Alpha. I should have remembered this would happen...you can only tease him just so much these days."_

"Now...I left the hospital because I no longer needed to be there, it was my choice and my right to do so. I appreciate that you were all worried about me but don't get your panties in a twist every time I don't do something you like." Naruto started his tone not cold but not warm either. "I hate being controlled and no one will control me...not anymore. If you got a problem with me, fine, take it up with me but don't blow shit clear out of proportion and don't treat me like I am still the same Blockhead Genin that could be walked all over because he was starved for attention. That person died several years ago and you'd all do good to remember that."

The five girls suddenly got rather sheepish and meek as Naruto put them in their place. It didn't help that his power aura had come out full tilt and further enforced his intent and words. Naruto then turned on Yugito and the Nekomanta cringed slightly at the glare she was getting.

"As for you." He said sternly. "What happened back with the old pervert was an accident. I certainly didn't expect you to be running around naked and you shouldn't have been with Ero-sennin running around. If you wanted my attention there are better ways of getting it and don't even try the mating season excuse...demons don't have seasons, we do what we damn well please."

"Erm...yeah...sorry about that...heh, heh, heh..." Yugito giggled nervously.

"Good...now I'm going to go get some lunch, I'll see you ladies later." He said, took three steps and vanished in a swirl of fire.

"Well...that could have gone better." Yugito sighed.

Temari blinked. "I think we made him mad..."

"Way to state the obvious blondie." Tenten added dryly.

"Now, now...let's not fight." Yugito said. "It's partially my fault. I should have remembered about certain traits he gained when he became a Hanyou. Male demons, especially ones as powerful as Naruto, have a great dislike of being dominated. In a sense...you could say Naruto is an Alpha Male. You can tease him but only just so much before it either grates on his nerves or you step over the line."

"In other words if any of us want to have a chance with him we're not only going to have to learn to control our tempers but stop trying to control him like we used to when he was younger." Sakura pointed out.

"Bingo." Yugito chimed.

Temari giggled a bit. "I don't really mind him being dominant...it's kinda sexy if you ask me."

Ino, Tenten and Sakura face faulted while Hinata and Yugito flushed with less then pure thoughts running through their minds. The other three girls quickly regained their composure and did their best to block the improper thoughts that were now running rampant through their minds.

Ino glanced at Yugito and sighed. "I assume that you are also interested in Naruto-kun?" She asked plainly.

Yugito nodded. "Yes, but I don't think he is interested in me. It's hard to tell with him...he keeps things like that bottled up, locked up and hidden away. From the amount of admirers he has I'd assume that the old pervert was right about his clan practicing Polygamy?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah...it's mainly because his Clan in on the verge of extinction and the Namikaze was a well known and powerful clan in Fire Country."

"You are right though...Naruto is nice and all to us but he doesn't really seem to show any romantic interest in us. Then again the only one of us that was actually nice to him growing up is Hinata here." Tenten mused.

"N-Naruto-kun is just trying to sort things out...he needs to do that first." Hinata said quietly.

"I think it goes a bit deeper than that." Kakashi said as he walked up to the group. "A part of his dislikes the fact that he's not human anymore...though he did become a Hanyou by choice, he did it because he thought it would be for the best."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto's been alone his entire life and hated by most for just as long. Every time he tried to make friends as a child it blew up in his face or the people that he tried to befriend would betray him. I don't need to tell you ladies, especially Yugito and Temari, about how hard the life of a Jinchuuriki can be or the abuses that come along with it. You ladies just need to give him some time...he's not used to people, women especially, wanting his affection or giving him affection. He'll come around eventually but not until he feels that he can trust you ladies." Kakashi said and then walked off with his nose buried back in his favorite book, pleased about his good deed for the day.

Sakura frowned. "I hope it doesn't take too long...with how dangerous our lives are...we never know exactly how much time we will have before we're dead."

That statement...true as it was, caused the other girls to frown in thought. It was very true. The life of a Ninja was one that meant that they could die at anytime if they weren't careful...even then caution isn't always enough.

* * *

Gaara Sabaku, fifth Kazekage of Suna and newly appointed Ichibi Hanyou wandered down the streets of Suna as dusk settled in. The young man marveled at how much better he felt now that the irritating Tanuki had been forever silenced. In a way he supposed he should thank the Akatsuki...but he'd rather beat them to bloody pulps for trying to kill him with their damn demon extraction. Still he was alive and now he had all of Shukaku's powers as his own. Though the Tanuki tail, ears and raccoon-like features he could have done without...especially when Mitsuri had exclaimed about how cute they made him. He'd probably never understand that girl...but he supposed it was part of the reason he'd grown to care for her.

His keen eyes spotted a familiar now seven tailed blonde perched up on one of their many water towers. Focusing his chakra and willing his sand to obey he was hoisted up to his friend on a pillar of sand.

"Yo! Gaara, it's been a while. How ya feeling buddy?" Naruto asked not looking behind him but sensing the presence of the new Hanyou.

"I am well, Uzumaki-san. Much more so now that, that irritating Shukaku has been silenced." Gaara answered in his trademark monotone.

Naruto chuckled. "I feel you...I still got an annoying kitsune pissing and moaning all the time. The trick is to either tune it out or threaten to go into the seal and rip its nuts off...the later seems to work the best."

Gaara blinked for a second and then barked out a laugh surprising Naruto. Gaara couldn't help it...only Naruto Uzumaki had the stones to actually threaten a demon lord...even if said demon wasn't as strong as it used to be.

"Only you my friend would ever dare be brave enough to threaten a demon and actually be able to get away with it." Gaara chuckled.

Naruto smirked. "Oh I think you could get away with it now yourself. That's the dangerous things about our kind...the Hanyou. All the chakra you had gained throughout your life combined with Shukaku's has easily made you twice as strong as that insane motor mouth ever was. If we had to go by tails in strength you'd easily be about two and a half."

Gaara nodded and went silent for a moment. "Might I ask what your intentions towards my sister are...she seems quite taken with you. I trust you but I do not wish to see her hurt...or I will hurt you."

Naruto was unaffected by the polite but lingering threat as he shrugged.

"I really don't now Gaara. I've spent my entire life being hated and feared for being a monster that I wasn't. Now I really am one and I'm suddenly attracting girls left and right...ironic in a way. Truth of the matter is I don't really know what to do about them, your sister included. I don't want to hurt anyone...I'd rather lop off a tail than do that. But I have some issues I need to work out...surly you would understand since your childhood was as bad as my own." Naruto sighed.

"I want to trust them...let them in and let them know that I do care for them as more than friends. But the only ones I actually feel like I could even slightly trust right now are your sister, Tenten and Hinata. Maybe Yugito too...but I had many problems with Sakura and Ino in the past. I can tell that they have indeed grown up but until I can get past my own issues and they can regain my full trust then I can't in good conscious do anything with any of them." Naruto explained.

"Hmm...I can understand your feelings on that matter. It took a long time for Mitsuri to gain my own trust but she did and it was worth it. A piece of advice my friend...do not wait too long, they do not have the advantage of our extended life spans and will eventually have to move on...or...they could be killed in battle. Don't wait to long to follow your heart or you may regret it...I believe it was you who taught me that lesson four years ago. Perhaps it is now time for you to take your own advice." Gaara said and summoned his sand once more. "I will see you again soon...I have much paperwork to do now, until then." Gaara vanished in a swirl of sand.

"My own advice huh..." Naruto said ruefully to himself as he glanced back out to the last visages of the sun setting in the distance. "...if only it were so easy."

_"Still...I can't string them along...it would be dishonorable. I just don't know if this is right though...it's too dangerous to be thinking about relationships right now with the Akatsuki and Sasuke running around."_

_"Then again I really don't know how I feel about them...each is special in her own way and I do care for each of them...more than I care to admit at the moment. Maybe I should take a chance...I need to think about this some more...maybe some sleep will help me think better."_ Naruto thought and bounded off towards the Sabaku Compound since that is where everyone was staying.

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


	9. Stirring of the Sacred Element

Chapter 9 : Stirring of the Sacred Element

The next day came early for most of the residents of Suna...even Gaara who begrudgingly got up from the first peaceful sleep he'd had since he could remember. Said Kazekage was rather surprised when he saw a small carrier falcon with a scroll in it's talons with the Leaf Symbol on it. Shrugging he grabbed the scrolls and the bird took flight back to its home. Unrolling the parchment he discovered it was a letter from Tsunade.

_Kazekage-dono_

_I hope this message finds you in good health. Kakashi has sent a message and we are now aware of your new circumstances, congratulations on your appointment as the new one tailed lord. I am sure you will do much better than the previous one that had been sealed within you._

_Now, on to other matters. I need your help. As you may have already noticed, Naruto has gained several female admirers, including your sister. However he has closed himself off to certain emotions mostly due to old insecurities, which I am sure you could relate to due to your similar childhoods. _

_The problem is this, I have many members of the council breathing down my neck because they want to ensure that Naruto's Kekkei Genkai, which gives him an unparalleled mastery of all elements, will get passed on to the next generation and that the Namikaze clan will continue. They are even trying to set up arranged marriages...and we both know how that would turn out._

_I don't want my son to be put in a forced situation like this, even if it is for the good of the village. I may be Hokage, but he is the closest thing to a son I've ever had and I will do all in my power to ensure his future happiness. I know he cares for your sister and the other girls but he doesn't have much of a chance to really relax and bond with them here due to some of the more ignorant residents._

_As it is I am unsure as to what to do to help him. The council will likely try something to keep him off of active duty until an heir is sired or something along those lines, you can see, I'm sure, where the problems with this could start mounting. Try talking to him if you can find the time. Also have Naruto's team ready to return as soon as possible so a proper report can be given._

_Thank you for the help and best of luck._

_Tsunade, Fifth Hokage, Konoha._

"Hnn...I talked to him once already, I'm afraid it's all in his hands now." Gaara monotoned. _"My friend...it is up to you now. Will you do as you always have in the past and overcome yet another obstacle or will you finally let your inner demons win?"_

Kankuro nodded from behind him. "Guess we'll just have to hope for the best. Temari will be leaving with the others to go back to Konoha for her ambassador duties there. We should probably leave things up to her; she generally gets what she wants." He smirked...he almost felt sorry for Naruto...almost.

Gaara eyed his brother lazily; he knew why Kankuro was happy about this. If Temari ended up married to Naruto, thus becoming a member of leaf, it would solidify their peace treaties even better but it would also keep Temari out of his hair...and less lumps on his noggin to boot.

* * *

Kakashi watched in mild concern as his former student went through his various kata. Naruto was once again training. A frown was on Kakashi's face as he observed the young Hanyou. His movements were fluid and precise but mechanical...his eyes held no glimmer within them as he continued to train and train...never stopping except to eat, use the rest room or help with some repairs in the village. It was obvious the young man had something on his mind but it didn't make sense as to why he was training himself into the ground, Kakashi idly wondered if Naruto had even slept since he woke the other day.

"AHCOOO!!" Naruto sneezed throwing off his kata. "Damn...I'm beginning to think someone is talking about me, that's the fourth time in the past ten minutes."

He was once again dressed in his usual garb; sealing scrolls in his opinion were one of the best shinobi tools out there since it allowed him to carry damn near anything he needed. It wasn't that he didn't like the Suna made gear that the others got for him, he was just more comfortable in his own things...and he hated wearing shirts unless he had to. Cloaks and Trench coats were okay...but the only thing he used to cover himself other than those were his black wrappings and his scarf since it could hide his lower face. Right now though, his trench and scarf were sealed leaving him in just a pair of baggy black pants with crimson flames coming up the legs. He opted to leave his boots off since moving in sand was easier bare-footed.

_"Heh...you have no idea Naruto, I'm sure the girls are." _Kakashi thought amused, this was the chance he'd been looking for. "Yo! Naruto, I got a message from Hokage-sama." He said walking towards the Chunin Hanyou.

Naruto dropped his stance and stood up straight as he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. "Really? What's Mom sent for us now?" He asked curiously.

Kakashi gave him one of his lazy eye smiles and handed him his copy of the order for rest. Naruto took it and skimmed over it, a slight frown crossed his feral features.

"Looks like we need to get back to Konoha soon then, good thing I'm fast transport." Naruto mumbled. "Heh, guess now I know why Gamabunta hate's being used as a taxi. Still...we should probably leave in the morning."

Kakashi nodded. "We've still got to make our report, especially since the Akatsuki is now down two members. Besides it's safer in Konoha..." Naruto gave him a slight deadpanned glare. "...well...for most people."

Kakashi sighed and looked at his former student. "When was the last time you actually relaxed or had a little fun? When was the last time you went a full day without training?" He asked suddenly curious.

"Four years or more...I don't really remember anymore." Naruto answered nonchalant. "I don't think I've stopped training in some way or another since the first Chunin exam we went through, except to rest or heal myself if I was injured." He added as and after thought.

Kakashi shook his head. "Naruto...I know you're not completely human anymore and you feel the need to push yourself but if you keep that up you will eventually burn out and lose the focus that drives you. I've noticed it the past couple of days...you train in an almost mechanical manner, like a machine programmed to do something. In fact when you don't have anything else to do you still train or help make more repairs to the damaged parts of the village."

Kakashi frowned behind his mask. "What are you running from? Is it the girls? You never used to do this...you used to know how to have fun, even when you trained. I know I was never the best Sensei in the past, I will always regret my mistakes with you and Sakura...but I'm here now...talk to me...what's on your mind that is making you train yourself into the ground like this?"

_"Sigh...Perceptive as ever, eh...Kakashi-sensei."_ Naruto thought a bit sourly.

Naruto sighed and glanced about, they were in a pretty secluded part of South Suna, it used to be Gaara's old training ground and no one really used it but him, his siblings and those he gave permission to. Naruto motioned for Kakashi to follow him to some shade provided by a couple of palm trees. Naruto sat down on one of the large rocks as he adjusted his seven tails to keep them out of the bright sun. Kakashi took a seat on another rock sitting a few feet from his former students. Watching as Naruto lazily polished the blades of his swords with a piece of rice cloth produced from his pocket.

"I have many things on my mind...granted I had four long years to think about the chaos that is my life, no matter how much I thought...I could never really come up with any actual answers to several of my problems." Naruto began, his voice slipping into a mix of tired and monotone.

"The Akatsuki was a simple question to answer...I will eliminate them as I come across them. To go hunting for them is nothing short of foolish since I'd likely play into their hands. They aren't stupid...they would have traps set for me, most of them still think I'm that little naive knucklehead that Itachi and Kisame met four years ago. The only problem with taking those bastards out is that no one will let me do it by myself so I have to worry about my precious people and try to protect them while trying to kill those nut-jobs. I may be a Hanyou, but I'm not invincible nor am I perfect...I...get scared thinking about what could happen on those missions. The Akatsuki are very powerful...the ones we just fought were some of the weaker members...I just don't want to lose anyone else. I can concentrate on the missions better if I were to go solo or with just you, Shikamaru or Neji maybe." Naruto frowned.

"Then there's Sasuke, Oto, Kabuto and Orochimaru...I'll never believe that snake-bastard is dead until I've killed him myself. I have no problems eliminating Oto from the map; they are the enemy...simple as that. But when it comes to Sasuke...I made a promise, an ignorant and foolish one that I now regret, to return him to the village. I know you don't want to hear this but he's too dangerous to let live. He's let himself be consumed by his thirst for power, so much so that he is now the puppet of those around him...who knows how far gone his mind is now. The problem is...when I see him next...I plan on terminating him, the council and promise be damned. Killing him will keep Itachi from stealing his eyes and stop the rise of another twisted immortal Uchiha; it will also stop Sasuke from doing the same should he actually be skilled enough to kill Itachi."

"A part of me still wishes that I could save him but I'm no longer stupid enough to believe that Sasuke was a real friend. All I ever really was to him was a stepping stone and a sacrifice to gain the Magenkyo. We might have had a sliver of friendship once...but that died the day he put a Chidori through my damn chest. Just like the ignorant and eternally happy little buffoon I once was died...or rather grew up." Naruto paused for a moment and took a drink from his water bottle.

Kakashi watched Naruto as he listened to the young man. He sighed to himself, he wondered just how much of this could have been avoided had he done things better as their sensei...and hadn't tried spoiling Sasuke because of a debt of honor he thought he owed to a man long since dead. Sarutobi had been right when he said that one was never too old to make mistakes, the trick was to be smart and honorable enough to own up and correct them.

"Gaara...sprung something on me last night...it's made me think long and hard about something and yet I'm still no closer to an answer. He asked me what my intentions were towards his sister. He also mentioned that they wouldn't wait around forever for me to make a decision...since they didn't have the luxury of our...extended lifespan." Naruto said looking out over the sands.

"He's right you know...they won't wait forever." Kakashi sighed. "I was in a similar situation once before with my former teammate...Rin Uzuki. I cared a lot about her...maybe even loved her. But instead of facing the situation I continued to train...and train, worked on developing my Chidori and Raikiri and threw myself into my work in ANBU. Then one day...after finally coming to a decision I had found out that she had been killed in action against some missing ninja from Iwa."

Kakashi gave a slight mirthless chuckle. "I was miserable...first I lost Obito...then your father, who had been like a father to me and then Rin. All because I was too afraid to face the situation. In our line of work...sometimes it doesn't matter how long we want to wait to try and figure something out because we might be dead the next day. I think it was after her death...that I started reading my books. The stories are good and they offer me an escape from bitter reality. It's not something I'm really proud of...but it's about the only way I can keep my sanity...Naruto...please don't make the same mistake I did. If you really care for them...tell them and then protect them with all your might." Kakashi said uncharacteristically serious.

Naruto looked at his former Sensei...really looked at him and considered his words. He saw a man who had lost much and seen more death than most in their lives. He saw a man trying his best to atone for past sins and mistakes, just like how Naruto was trying his best to not make new mistakes in the present.

"How do you feel about them, Naruto? Think about it...don't block or bottle up your emotions and really think about it. Just remember...to them...to all of us, you will still be you...Hanyou, Demon or Human...it doesn't matter to those who count." Kakashi stood up and patted Naruto on the shoulder before walking off...he felt the need for a good stiff drink right now and his friend needed some time to think.

Naruto frowned in though as he looked at his own clawed hands, occasionally forcing his claws out and retracting them.

_"How do I feel about them...?" _He wondered silently.

_"Temari is really nice...a bit brash but I kinda like that about her. She's very beautiful...all of them are in their own way. Temari and Tenten are a lot alike in some ways...both a tomboys but have an odd need for physical interaction...especially with someone they care for. Then there's Yugito and Ino...both of them are natural flirts and very attractive. Hinata is one of the kindest and gentlest girls I have ever met; I know she's been in love with me for a long time too. Truth be told...I really wouldn't mind dating her...the shy bit always was kinda cute. Last but not least is Sakura...she's grown up nicely, works hard and has blossomed splendidly from what she used to be. I will admit that a bit of my old crush is still there...it never really left. But I don't really know how to handle her now, am I just a replacement for Sasuke...or does she really have feelings for me? What about the others? All of them, except Hinata, either ignored me or disliked me when we were younger."_

_"Though Temari did change her tune a bit after I helped Gaara out. Tenten was always nice but never went out of her way to talk to me. Yugito was different, she thought I was the enemy at first but when I helped her and Nibi out she seemed to become attached to me...flattering in a way, even if I was just trying to help out a fellow Jinchuuriki. Ino and Sakura I was sure they hated my guts. But ever since I returned...they've been really nice to me, they even lost their fan-girl bit...thank Kami. No matter what though, I'd always did consider them friends...I also realize that things change as we grow older...become wiser with experience. But dammit all...I just can't seem to kill my old insecurities...I want to but as ashamed as I am to admit it...I'm afraid. Not so much anymore of rejection...but...of losing them...damn."_

Naruto let out a sigh. It was true...he was afraid of losing them. He would rather they be alive and either hate or fear him then be dead for any reason. He wasn't so foolish to think that he was some sort of superman...not like he had when he was younger, he knew he couldn't save everyone...he'd just be damned if he didn't at least try to. But four years of intense training and learning and coming to terms with how harsh reality was had changed him. He honestly expected to spend the rest of his life alone. He had even thought that he didn't deserve such feelings from anyone...he was a demon after all, who could ever love a monster? Jiraiya had done his best to beat that notion out of him but it still lingered and haunted him...just as his past and his nightmares did. Even now he could see the horrors of his past as clear as crystal...not the sugar coated version he gave everyone, but the true terrors he had lived past...the horrors that had left scars on his soul.

Kakashi's words filter back through his mind calming the horrible visions flooding through it. Kakashi had asked him to not make the same mistake he once did...and to protect them. Coupled with his Demonic and Alpha instincts he quickly found that he was more protective of the girls than he thought he would be. Logically thinking...each of them would make excellent mates and he did have a clan to rebuild. He was more than strong enough now to protect them and when he gained his final tail...nothing short of Shinigami could stand against him.

_"I know I haven't really been fair to them...especially Hinata, Temari and Yugito, since none of them have ever done anything to me to personally warrant my distrust or unease. But I've been doing this for so damn long now...I just don't know what to do about them...any of them. I don't want to hurt them...but I can't just sit back and let them be sad either...not when I'm the cause." _Naruto thought solemnly.

The truth of the matter was...no matter how much his mind might try to convince him otherwise...he cared very much for them...some more so than others. Four years of intense training, self reflection and searching for purpose had opened his eyes to many things. There were times he wanted to kick himself for not realizing how Hinata had felt for him...all that time he spent alone could have been with someone who cared.

It all boiled down to one simple truth...he, Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki, was scared. The mighty Kitsune Hanyou, Neo-Kyuubi and Most Unpredictable Shinobi was actually afraid. Not for himself, but for the girls. He was terrified he'd get closer to one or all of them only to have one of them ripped away from him. He wasn't invincible, he knew that. He was definitely stronger than most Kage and the majority of the Akatsuki and would continue to grow stronger...but even a god can screw up. He wasn't so foolish as to think he could save everyone anymore, in the real Shinobi world childish notions like that often got one killed. But what if he wasn't fast enough to protect one of them?

Naruto sighed. "Damn the what if's...I'm getting sick of dwelling on it. This isn't me; I'm not a brooder unless the situation clearly calls for that kind of deep thought. The problem is...I'm fucking thinking way to damn much. Kakashi was right...I was damn near ready to think myself out of a golden opportunity."

"I may not be perfect, I have a foul mouth, explosive temper when pressed, I tend to be cocky and I got a demented little fur-ball sealed in me until I assimilate its last tale. I've got the power now dammit...I'm smarter now but I need to stop trying to use logic for everything. I care for those girls and if I'm really what they want then by fucking Kami that's what they'll get!" Naruto's eyes shifted to crimson as a bit of killing intent leaked from him. **"And may the gods have mercy on anyone who harms them...because I will not."** He added in a demonic tone and sheathed his Katana's.

"Guess I'll just take things as they come and go with the flow, that's always suited me better anyways. Maybe I'll go pick up some lunch before heading back to Gaara's compound." Naruto mused feeling much lighter as he ruthlessly squashed the negative thoughts he had earlier and walked off.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask as he watched from a safe distance. _"Good for you Naruto...I knew you'd choose the correct path once you thought on it. Heh...you had me a little afraid there for a minute though...good to see some things about you will never change."_ Kakashi thought and Shunshin'ed out of the training ground. There was a rare Icha, Icha on sale at the book store and it had his name on it!

* * *

Naruto dashed and hopped along the roof tops at high speed, enjoying how his unnaturally tanned skin seemed to ward off sunburns, in truth it was his healing factor that made him immune to the unpleasant effect. As he neared one of the more torn up parts of Suna he halted in his movements.

The sound of children playing caught his ears, making them twitch slightly towards their direction. He frowned slightly...the ruins in this area were quite unstable...it was no place for kids to be playing. A Chakra signature also alerted him to another familiar presence...Hinata.

Curious he hunched down and perched on the rooftop to check what was going on. Two little boys were playing Ninja around a tipsy looking wall as Hinata quickly ran up and began shooing them off and warning them of the danger. The kids soon ran off laughing and Hinata appeared to sigh in relief. Unfortunately a strong gust of wind came up, as was common in Wind Country and the wall began to tip over. Hinata realized as the wall was quickly falling down on her; a sudden surge of panic filled her and froze her on the spot.

Naruto let out a curse seeing her freeze up and vanished in a yellow flash of light only to reappear in another flash next to Hinata and catch the surprisingly heavy stone wall. He grunted slightly from the effort but held it aloft.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped as her favorite blonde hero/crush appeared next to her and caught the wall that was about to crush her with ease.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, I know you don't really mind being a wall-flower but I think this is a bit much...so..." Naruto grunted again and hurled the massive slab of stone.

Hinata watched a bit gob-smacked as the huge stone wall sailed over the Suna perimeter wall and land somewhere harmlessly out in the dessert sands. She blushed a bit at the light wise crack Naruto made before tossing the offending object.

"You okay, Hinata-chan?" He asked in his usual kind tone and she could see his genuine concern for her in his eyes.

She damn near melted on the spot. It amazed her at how frighteningly strong he could be, yet how truly gentle he was when needed. The fact that he had added the chan suffix to her name wasn't lost on her either and it made her blush all the brighter as she poked her fingers together, silently cursing her shyness and for the fact Naruto had to save her when she should have been able to save herself.

"I-I'm f-fine, Naruto-kun..." She stuttered out shyly.

Naruto frowned in concern; he could tell that something was bothering her.

"You're a terrible liar, you know." Naruto chuckled mildly. "C'mon now...I'm your friend, you can tell me what's bothering you. A burden shared is a burden lessened."

Hinata fidgeted a bit more and continued to twiddle her fingers in her usual cute manner. She was blushing deeper now and for the life of her she just couldn't speak. It upset her greatly, she'd worked so hard on her confidence and now when she needed it, it left her hanging. Tears began to prick at her soft lavender eyes, why couldn't she just say what she felt for once in her damn life!?

_"I see...from what I can tell, she's upset that I had to save her again, if not slightly ashamed. If memory serves, she has always wanted to become stronger and is always trying to, in hopes of becoming worthy in my eyes. And now, she wants to tell me how she feels...but is too afraid to say anything. Heh, sometimes gaining this level of perception is a pain in the ass...but this time it could actually help. Maybe it's time I took a step. I've always thought she was worthy, definitely better than I deserve. Perhaps it's time she gets what she's wanted for so long." _Naruto thought.

Hinata let out a slight gasp and squeak as Naruto came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened for but a second before laying her head on his bare chest. Tears began to leak from her eyes, but this time they were of happiness.

"Hinata-chan...I've known for a few years now, about how you feel about me." Naruto said softly. "I'm sorry...it took me so long to see it. As you know, my life has been pretty rotten for the most part. Somewhere along the way...I just settled myself to the fact that I'd always be alone, first because I am a Jinchuuriki, then because I'm a Hanyou and in the future because I would become a full demon."

He sighed slightly and Hinata remained quiet as she sadly listened to his words.

"I had always thought…who could ever love a demon...a monster? I know it was foolish, but given my life, I think it was an honest and believable deduction. That is why I trained so hard during my time with Ero-sennin. I knew that I would never be accepted or respected. To be honest...it doesn't really matter to me anymore what the ignorant masses think, I have my duties and as far as I'm concerned, they can either accept me or piss off. I trained myself to become a living weapon...not just to protect the village...no, that was never the real reason. I wanted to protect the few precious people I have, the village be damned."

"I honestly thought, that when I came back and all of you eventually learned my secret...you'd all turn against me. After all...it wouldn't be the first time in my life it's happened. Most everyone I've ever known has turned against me in one way or another. But to my surprise...not just one, but all of you, especially you and the other ladies...accepted me and still want my affection. Heh...to be honest...that scared the hell out of me for a while. I was terrified to let any of you close...scared that I might lose one or all of you for some reason or another. But I finally thought about it, long and hard, and decided that I can't live my life based on what if's. I'm much stronger now and I hope smarter." Naruto explained.

"N-Naruto-kun...?" Hinata asked looking up at him in slight confusion not sure where this was going but really hoping.

Naruto looked down at her and gave her his usual kind smile.

"I'm not sure if what I feel for you and the others is love...I've never really experienced that emotion nor do I have anything to go by due to my childhood. But, I know I care for each of you...very much, enough that I would sacrifice everything that I am to ensure your own lives and happiness. And to be honest...I...don't want to be alone anymore. So...if I am truly what you want, I'd be honored to be with you, be it as friends...or lovers." He answered her unspoken question.

Naruto was a bit shocked when Hinata let out a mixed happy noise, something between a sob and a cry of joy. He was even further shocked when she lunged up kissed him...not one of those innocent and chaste first kisses either. Quickly regaining his composure he did what any respectful male would do, he reciprocated the affection.

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun...I'm so happy. I...I've wanted this for so long...just to be with you." Hinata said softly.

Naruto gave her a slight squeeze. "I know, Hinata-chan...I'm sorry you had to wait so long. I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do or how I was so lucky to just get someone like you to care for me. It's kinda strange and I'll need some time to get used to the idea...but I'm glad your happy, to me that's all that really matters." He replied absently as he ran his hands through her silky midnight blue hair.

Hinata practically purred as he did this. In this one moment, it felt as if all her dreams had finally come true. Naruto didn't reject her...he welcomed her. She didn't know just what changed his mind, but she was glad it had...for whatever reason it might have happened. She knew of his secret...she'd known for a long time that there was something special about him. It didn't matter to her if he was human, Hanyou or demon...she would love and cherish him all the same...he was after all, her own source of strength.

Naruto was once again lost to his thoughts as he held the smaller young woman in his arms. She felt both strong and frail at the same time. He silently savored the unfamiliar but pleasant feeling of holding someone you care for, a feeling that had been denied him for so long and now...he had it.

_"I was a damn fool for nearly passing this up...all because of my own insecurities. In a way I still don't feel I deserve her...or the others. But as Kami as my witness, this I swear. I will protect them with all my power for as long as they will have me...as long as she will have me. They will never want for anything and I will treat them as equals. No one or thing will ever harm them in my presence and should they come to harm when I'm not around...I will hunt down and destroy the one who harmed them...even if I have to rip Elemental Earth apart with my bare claws. This is my pledge...my vow and my promise to you ladies. The ones who saw the person...and not the demon." _Naruto vowed silently.

Naruto let out a light chuckle. "Well...this isn't exactly how I figured this sort of thing would happen, but it works."

Hinata giggled a bit. "Yes...it does." She agreed and then a very sly smile crossed her features. A smile that would have looked more in place on Ino. "You know, Naruto-kun...the others will want their fair share now." She added without a stutter.

Naruto blanched slightly. "Oh, kami...they're gonna eat me alive!" He groaned while ignoring his tenants cackling at his discomfort.

"Don't worry; I'll protect you...for a little while at least." Hinata giggled.

Naruto sweatdropped. "Thanks..." He said dryly. "Oh well, at least your not stuttering anymore. Your voice is much more beautiful when you don...mmph...??"

Hinata silenced him by once again trying to extract his tonsils with her tongue...damn if the girl couldn't kiss. Ruefully he realized that the old saying about how it was always the quiet ones was painfully true. It never crossed his mind that five plus years of bottled up desires, repressed hormones and secret admiration could make even a nun a bit randy.

Far above them, perched on a water tower. Yugito Nii watched with a grin. She couldn't have planned this better herself! Now that the Hyuga girl had Naruto's attention it wouldn't take much for her and the other girls to get it either. And with Hinata's help, she was certain that things would flow smoothly, it would just take a bit of time and patience and maybe a few set up situations...heh, heh, heh.

* * *

Konoha...

Jiraiya suddenly sat upright from his position in the tree over looking the hot springs.

"Hmm...my pervert senses are tingling! Something interesting is happening somewhere and I'm not there to witness it...I'll bet it's the brat! He's got all those young nubile ladies with him." Jiraiya let out a perverted giggle as he wiped off a bit of drool. "I hope the kid hurries back so I can see what's going on...if I'm right, he'll be a gold mine of research material."

* * *

Suna...

Naruto let out a slight shiver.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as they walked from a Takuyaki stand. Both had a small box of the octopus puffs and were munching on them.

"Hnn? Oh...nothing...just got an uncomfortable feeling is all. I think someone was talking about me again." Naruto shrugged.

"Why don't we relax the rest of the day? I planned on leaving tomorrow morning so we could be back in Konoha by night fall." He added.

Hinata nodded. "Umm...do we...umm...let the others know a-about us? I'd like to...tell my father." She said a bit nervously.

"That's up to you Hinata-chan. I don't see any problem with letting the other girls know since it seems I really don't have a choice in how many of you I'm going to date..." Naruto chuckled. "...I suppose there are worse fates. Not sure how your dad's going to take it though. If he doesn't like it then it's his problem, now that I got you...I'm not going to just let you go because of some one else's opinions."

Hinata flushed. "I...don't think father will have any problems. He has been one of your supporters for quite a few years now; I think it happened when you changed Neji at the Chunin exams."

"It wasn't that I was trying to change him so much as I was trying to get him to get out of his fate complex and help himself. I'm glad I was able to help him though. If there's one thing I've learned in my life is that things like Fate and Destiny do happen, but it's up to you to change it...nothing is truly set in stone. I'm kind of living proof of that. I was born to become a living sacrifice and for a long time, I really thought I'd end up being alone the rest of my life."

"When I was a kid it was so hard, I spent so many years not knowing or understanding why I was hated so much. To be honest...I used to cry myself to sleep most nights until I finally got tired of it, crying never helped. I guess you could call it stubborn nature, I decided if fate was going to bite me in the ass then I was gonna bite back harder, simple as that. Then on my training trip, I was forced to look deeper, I had to make a choice to either remain a child or to grow up and accept that some things wouldn't change. So I grew up and decided that even if some things never changed, I wouldn't let it get in the way of my purpose or duty." Naruto explained.

Hinata felt another wave of admiration flow through her and then a question she'd been pondering for a while presented itself.

"Naruto-kun...how or why did you choose to become a Hanyou? I've been wondering for a while now." She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I pretty much told you guys that a while back. Truth is though, it would have happened no matter what due to the way the seal was. I just decided to make it happen sooner since time wasn't exactly a luxury we have in our lifestyles. I wasn't dumb enough to think that the Akatsuki or Sasuke would just wait around until the seal did its job slowly so Ero-sennin and I decided it would be better sooner than later. That and assimilating the Fox-teme's powers and chakra would ruin Akatsuki's plans since extracting a Biju from a Hanyou is impossible and since I started off human instead of a demon I gain a few perks, even once I become a full demon I will still have traces of human in me, just enough to mess up any demonic containment jutsu they have. It also gives me an edge over the Sharingan since it can nullify demonic chakra. No matter what, I will always have my human chakra stores so I guess you could call the whole thing planning ahead. I knew what I was sacrificing but it was better than the alternatives."

"I agree." Hinata said snuggling into him. "I don't know what I would have done...if...if their plans would have come through and I lost you." She whispered.

Naruto sighed. "You're a strong woman, Hinata-chan. It would have hurt for a while, but I know you would have had the strength to go on with your life. Besides...that's pointless speculation now, Akatsuki is powerful, but so am I and I promise you, I will always be here for you so don't worry about things that won't happen anymore." He said giving her a comforting squeeze.

She gave him a small smile but couldn't help but worry in her mind. It was true that he was powerful...damn near god-like to be honest, but even a god can fall. That was why she vowed silently to do her best to protect him...she may not be as powerful as he is or have the advantage of being a Hanyou but she wouldn't let that stop her...not when she'd finally gotten him. Besides...she was sure she'd have help in the form of her female friends and together they all could protect him just as he protects them.

* * *

Deep within the realm of the summons a large elderly and wizened looking toad sat upon his rocky throne, he was known as Gamasennin. Next to him was the Toad Summon Boss, Gamabunta.

The ancient sage opened his eyes. "It has begun." Gamasennin said softly.

Gamabunta looked at him and exhaled smoke from his nostrils.

"So...the brats finally coming around then?" He asked.

Gamasennin nodded as he stroked his long beard. "Indeed my boy, the sacred element is stirring within him and awakening ever so slowly. The ladies in him life...six of them to be precise, are the keys. His heart is the lock. Once fully opened the radiance of the sacred element...love, will shine fourth and give birth to a new Guardian. But unlike the previous Guardians...this one will be both Demonic and Devine...a light beyond greatest brilliance, darkness beyond blackest pitch...joined together to form a Shadow beyond the Dawn and Dusk. It will just be a matter of time now and left up to him...Naruto...will you embrace your true destiny or will you deny yourself?" Gamasennin said cryptically.

"I have faith in the kid; he's a lot like his father and his mother. If there's anyone out there that can accomplish this miracle you speak of...it's Naruto Namikaze." Gamabunta assured the elder sage.

"For all our sakes...I hope you are correct my child. Even now, the evils conspire against him and will do all in their power to keep him from obtaining his true full potential. It is not written in stone and even I cannot know what the future will hold but so long as the sacred element is within him and stirring...there is hope." Gamasennin stated.

Gamabunta frowned. "What do you see, old one...what else haven't you told me?" He asked.

"A great evil is also stirring, feeding off of the excess taint in the mortal realm. It's power once sealed by the Nine Guardians. The seal has grown weak due to the loss of the guardians when they became the tailed ones. For now, the tainted one still sleeps but that could change...I do not know if it will awaken or not, but the only one who could stand against it is our young friend." Gamasennin said.

"You...you don't mean..." Gamabunta trailed off.

The elder nodded. "Yes, my child...the lord of Anarchy and Chaos...Kain the Destroyer. Should, Kain awaken and break from the seal, only young Naruto Namikaze with his unique devine and demonic power could ever hope to defeat Kain."

"B-but that's impossible Elder Sage!" Gamabunta yelled. "Kain is unbeatable! It took all nine of the Biju to seal Kain away in the Abyss. If Naruto was to fight him...even with his unique power...it would destroy both! Naruto would burn through his own soul destroying that bastard!"

"Perhaps..." Gamasennin trailed off as he closed his eyes. "But in the end...sometimes sacrifices must be made for the better of all. Naruto understands this and he will know what to do should the situation ever arise. But as I have said, nothing is written in stone..." The elder sage fell into a deep sleep trance.

Gamabunta shook his head. "Kid...I really hope if you ever face Kain...you can once again cheat the fates and make the impossible...possible. If not...I will have lost yet another worthy summoner and friend."

* * *

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto


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